| | | | | | | Hello. The question of Israel’s endgame in Gaza now has a partial answer. As international editor Jeremy Bowen explains, “security responsibility” might sound like a vague term, but it’s one we’ve encountered before. From Jerusalem, correspondent Fergal Keane speaks to two friends whose common project to share Palestinian stories with Hebrew-speaking readers now faces an uncertain future. Further down this email, we look at stunning images of celestial bodies and also at a treasure that laid underwater off the coast of Sardinia for several centuries. |
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| | | | | | Questions Answered | | Deciphering Israel’s plan for Gaza’s future |  | | Mr Netanyahu spoke to US network ABC News on Tuesday. Credit: Reuters |
| | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, for the first time, publicly referenced Israel’s plan for Gaza after the war with Hamas ends. Mr Netanyahu said Israel will have "overall security responsibility" for the Gaza Strip "for an indefinite period". He did not, however, elaborate exactly on how this plan would be enforced. |  | | Jeremy Bowen, International editor |
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| | Have we heard this term before? | | Security responsibility is a phrase that’s used in part of the West Bank, which is the other Palestinian territory. Under the Oslo Accords - the first Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement from the 1990s - one of the agreed areas was that parts of the West Bank would be under Palestinian municipal control and Israeli security responsibility. | | What does this mean in practice? | | The Israelis would come and go as they pleased in terms of enforcing the law and maintaining order, but the more mundane, workaday tasks like collecting rubbish and running the schools, would be done by the Palestinians. However, to do that, there must be a Palestinian body that is prepared to work with the Israelis. | | What are the chances Mr Netanyahu’s plan will succeed? | | They are going to be in a very difficult position. They are now stuck with Gaza, will have to deal with it, and it probably will involve some sort of occupation. | | | | | | |
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AT THE SCENE |  Jerusalem, Israel | | A friendship built ‘Across the Wall’ |  | | The name ‘Across the Wall’ references the security barriers separating Palestinians and Israelis. Credit: BBC | | A shared love of storytelling first brought together Ahmed, a 29-year-old Palestinian, and Yuval, a 29-year-old Israeli. For years, the two men have managed a Facebook page titled Across the Wall, where stories by Palestinian writers were translated into Hebrew. That was until their lives were thrown into turmoil by an unprecedented war, which has seen Ahmed lose 21 family members in an air strike in Gaza. | | | When Yuval saw the news about Ahmed's family, at first he struggled to find the words to respond. "And from that moment, I cried." Yuval says. "I spent the entire day trying to write him something. I didn't really know what to say. I said how sorry I felt." Several days passed and Yuval began to wonder if he would ever again hear from his friend.
Then came a voice message. It was Ahmed, his voice wracked with grief, but still a friend. He thanked Yuval for being in touch and said he respected him even more now. Ahmed said he was able to differentiate between Yuval and the Israeli pilot who dropped the bomb that killed his family. When I meet Yuval in Jerusalem he is careful not to try and speak for his friend. I want to know if they will work together in the future. "I think you have to ask him," Yuval responds. "For me, I will. As I said to him, 'I made a commitment to you. I will not stop'." |
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| | The big picture | | Euclid’s mission |  | | The Horsehead is a great cloud of gas and dust where stars are being born. Credit: ESA/Euclid Consortium/Nasa |
| | Europe’s Euclid telescope went into space in July as part of a six-year mission to assemble a 3D map of a third of the sky. After a few initial issues that required engineers to fine-tune the instrument, scientists have received five images that reassured them that Euclid is up to the task: observing billions of galaxies, in search of clues about the nature of so-called dark matter and dark energy. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Festival of delights | | Anarsa are the deep-fried taste of Diwali. | | |
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| | And finally... in Italy | | Sunken treasure has been found off the coast of Sardinia. Divers armed with metal detectors recovered more than 30,000 bronze coins, possibly from a 4th Century shipwreck, that the Italian Ministry of Culture deemed to be “in an exceptional and rare state of preservation”. Watch how the operation unfolded. |
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| | | | | | | | Future Earth Newsletter | | Essential climate news and hopeful developments, in your inbox every Tuesday. | | |
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– Sofia |
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