At least 40 people were killed in Yobe state between Monday and Tuesday after suspected Boko Haram militants shot at villagers and set off a land mine, in the first major attack on the northern eastern state in 18 months, the police said on Wednesday.

The attack happened at about 8:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) on Monday, at Gurokayeya village, Gaidam local government in Yobe State, the state's police spokesperson Abdulkarim Dungus said.

He said gunmen opened fire on villagers, killing at least 17 people and that on Tuesday a land mine exploded, killing at least 20 villagers who were returning from burying victims of the previous attack.

The Islamist group has been killing and abducting villagers in Borno state, a hotbed for militancy that has been the epicentre of a 14-year war on insurgency in Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu and his cabinet on Monday approved $2.8 billion supplementary budget to fund "urgent issues" including defence and security.

Tinubu has yet to disclose how he would tackle insurgency in the north and widespread insecurity in other parts of the country.

The Yobe community had been at peace for over a year before this attack, residents said. The last time a bomb exploded in Yobe state was in April 2022.

Lawan Ahmed, a resident, told Reuters the militants shot at villagers sporadically from motorbikes, killing about 18 people on Monday.

Ahmed added that the same insurgents on Tuesday attempted to eliminate those who had gone to the burial on Monday, killing more than 20 people.

 

Reuters

After weeks in besieged Gaza, some foreign nationals and wounded Palestinians are allowed to leave

Israeli ground troops have advanced to “the gates of Gaza City” in heavy fighting with militants, the military said Wednesday, as hundreds of foreign nationals and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza after more than three weeks under siege.

The news came as U.S. President Joe Biden called for a humanitarian “pause” in the fighting. Biden was speaking at a Minneapolis campaign fundraiser when a protester interrupted him, calling for a cease-fire.

“I think we need a pause,” Biden responded. White House officials later said a break in fighting would allow more aid to get into Gaza and create a possibility for more hostages held by Hamas to be freed.

The first people to leave Gaza — other than four hostages released by Hamas and another rescued by Israeli forces — crossed into Egypt, escaping the territory’s growing misery as bombings drive hundreds of thousands from their homes, and food, water and fuel run low.

The U.S. State Department said some American citizens were among those who left, without giving specifics. It said it expected more Americans and other foreign nationals to get out of Gaza in coming days. Talks were reportedly ongoing among Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which has been mediating with Hamas.

Heavy airstrikes demolished apartment buildings for the second day in a row in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City. Al Jazeera television showed wounded people, including children, being brought to a hospital.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and Jordan on Friday – his second trip to the region since the war was sparked by Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel. Blinken aims to reiterate U.S. support for Israel, but also to push to ensure humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.

In a sign of increasing alarm over the war among Arab countries, Jordan — a key U.S. ally with a peace deal with Israel — recalled its ambassador from Israel and told Israel’s ambassador to remain out of the country.

Deputy Prime Minister Ayman al-Safadi said the return of the ambassadors is linked to Israel “stopping its war on Gaza … and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing.”

ISRAELI ARMY ADVANCES DEEPER

Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Armored Division, said his troops were deep in Gaza. “We are located at the gates of Gaza City.”

Israeli forces appeared to be advancing on three main routes, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. research group. One thrust came from Gaza’s northeast corner. Another south of Gaza City cut across the territory, reaching the main north-south highway.

The third from Gaza’s northwest corner had moved about 3 miles (5 kilometers) down the Mediterranean coast, reaching the outskirts of the Shati and Jabaliya refugee camps on the edges of Gaza City.

Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group reported clashes with Israeli troops in several locations. Hamas’ armed wing posted video purporting to show its fighters emerging from tunnels and firing rockets at Israeli tanks.

The Israeli military said its airstrikes killed the head of Hamas’ anti-tank rocket unit in Gaza.

Several hundred thousand Palestinians remain in northern Gaza in the path of the fighting. Casualties on both sides are expected to rise as Israeli troops advance toward the dense residential neighborhoods of Gaza City. Israeli officials say Hamas’ military infrastructure, including tunnels, is concentrated in the city.

The toll was not known from the strikes Wednesday in Jabaliya. Airstrikes in the same area killed or wounded hundreds, according to the director of a nearby hospital. Israel said those strikes destroyed Hamas tunnels beneath the buildings and killed dozens of fighters.

Rocket fire by Gaza militants into Israel has continued, disrupting life for millions of people and forcing an estimated 250,000 people to evacuate towns in northern and southern Israel. Most rockets are intercepted.

BORDER OPENS TO ALLOW SOME PEOPLE OUT

By midafternoon Wednesday, 335 foreign passport holders left Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority.

Seventy-six Palestinian patients, along with their companions, have been evacuated for treatment in Egypt, Abu Omar said.

The authority said the plan was for more than 400 foreign passport holders to leave for Egypt. The White House said it expected a “handful” of American citizens to be among them, and German, French, British and Australian officials said their citizens were among the evacuees.

Hundreds more remain in Gaza. The U.S. has said it is trying to evacuate 400 Americans with their families.

Egypt has said it will not accept an influx of Palestinian refugees, fearing Israel will not allow them to return to Gaza after the war.

BIDEN URGES “PAUSE”

Biden’s call for a “pause” was a subtle departure for White House policymakers, who have insisted they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out military operations. The White House has, however, been signaling that Israel should consider humanitarian pauses to allow more aid into Gaza and for trapped foreign nationals to leave. Biden’s new comments put pressure on Netanyahu to give Gaza’s civilians at least a brief reprieve.

“A pause means give time to get the prisoners out,” Biden said at the Minneapolis fundraiser for his 2024 reelection campaign.

HOSPITALS WARN OF DEPLETING FUEL

Over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and supplies of food, medicine, water and fuel are running low.

Hospitals in Gaza expressed increasing alarm that the generators running life-saving equipment were dangerously low on fuel after weeks of siege.

Only hours of electricity remained at Gaza City’s largest hospital, Shifa, according to its director, Mohammed Abu Salmia, who pleaded for “whoever has a liter of diesel in his home” to donate it.

The Turkish-Palestinian Hospital, Gaza’s only facility offering specialized treatment for cancer patients, was forced to shut down because of lack of fuel, leaving 70 cancer patients in a critical situation, the Health Ministry said.

The World Health Organization said the lack of fuel puts at risk 1,000 patients on kidney dialysis, 130 premature babies in incubators, as well as cancer patients and patients on ventilators.

The Israeli military released a recording of what it said was a Hamas military commander forcing a hospital to give some fuel. The recording could not be independently verified.

DEATH TOLL KEEPS RISING

More than 8,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war, mostly women and minors, and more than 22,000 people have been wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday, without providing a breakdown between civilians and fighters. The figure is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ initial attack, also an unprecedented figure. Palestinian militants also abducted around 240 people during their incursion and have continued firing rockets into Israel.

Sixteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ground operation.

An estimated 800,000 Palestinians have fled south from northern Gaza following Israeli evacuation orders, but hundreds of thousands remain.

Israel has allowed more than 260 trucks carrying food and medicine to enter from Egypt over the past 10 days, but aid workers say it’s not nearly enough.

AFTER WAR, THEN WHAT?

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas’ ability to govern Gaza or threaten Israel. But it has said little about who would govern Gaza afterwards.

During his visit Friday, Blinken wants to discuss those issues with Israel and Jordan, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. To that end, Blinken will push Israeli officials on reining in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and will restate U.S. backing for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, he said.

On Tuesday, Blinken suggested President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority could govern Gaza.

Hamas drove the authority’s forces out of Gaza in heavy fighting in 2007, leaving it with limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and little Palestinian support.

In other developments Wednesday:

— Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired “a large batch of drones” toward Israel, Yahya Sarea, a Houthi spokesman, said on social media. The announcement came one day after the Houthis said their forces had targeted Israel with at least three missile and drone attacks. The Houthi involvement brings Iran, a longtime sponsor of the Houthis, Hamas and the Lebanese militia group Hezbolla, even closer to the war.

 

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine must innovate as war moves to static, attritional phase -army chief

Ukraine's war with Russia is moving towards a new stage of static and attritional fighting, a phase that could allow Moscow to rebuild its military power, Ukraine's commander-in-chief has said.

In an article for The Economist published on Wednesday, General Valery Zaluzhnyi said his army needed key new military capabilities and technological innovation to break out of the new phase of the war, now in its 21st month.

Using stark language, he described risks of prolonged, attritional fighting: "This will benefit Russia, allowing it to rebuild its military power, eventually threatening Ukraine's armed forces and the state itself."

His article comes almost five months into a major Ukrainian counteroffensive that has not made a serious breakthrough against heavily mined Russian defensive lines. Fighting is expected to slow as the weather worsens.

Russian troops have gone on the offensive in parts of the east and Kyiv fears Moscow plans to unleash a campaign of air strikes to cripple the power grid, plunging millions into darkness in the depths of winter.

"Just like in the First World War we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate," Zaluzhnyi was quoted as saying in an interview published alongside his article.

The article singled out Russia's air power advantage as a factor that made advancing harder and called for Kyiv to conduct massive drone strikes to overload Russia's air defences.

"Basic weapons, such as missiles and shells, remain essential. But Ukraine's armed forces need key military capabilities and technologies to break out of this kind of war. The most important one is air power," he wrote.

He said Ukraine must get better at destroying Russian artillery and devise better mine-breaching technology, saying Western supplies have proven insufficient faced with Russian minefields that stretched back 20 km (12 miles) in some areas.

He called it a priority for Ukraine to build up its reserve forces despite noting it had limited capacity to train them inside the country and highlighting gaps in legislation that allowed people to evade service.

"We are trying to fix these problems. We are introducing a unified register of draftees, and we must expand the category of citizens who can be called up for training or mobilisation," he wrote.

"We are also introducing a 'combat internship', which involves placing newly mobilised and trained personnel in experienced front-line units to prepare them," he said.

** Russian drone hits oil refinery, frontline attacks repelled -Ukraine military

A Russian drone attack set ablaze the Kremenchuk oil refinery in central Ukraine and knocked out power supply in three villages, while battlefield reports said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in frontline sectors in the east and northeast.

The fire at the Kremenchuk refinery, which Moscow has targeted many times and the Kyiv government says is not operational, was quickly put out, said Filip Pronin, head of Poltava region's military administration. The extent of the damage was not clear.

Ukraine's Air Force said air defences shot down 18 of 20 drones and a missile fired by Russia overnight before they reached their targets in an attack that sought to strike military and critical infrastructure.

"The focus of the attack was Poltava region, it was attacked in several waves," Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told national television.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said troops had repelled eight Russian attacks near Kupiansk in the northeast, five near the shattered eastern town of Bakhmut, held by Russian forces, and five further south near Avdiivka, a focal point of Russian assaults since mid-October.

A video posted by the Ukrainian military showed its forces destroying a Russian flamethrower system near Avdiivka, an attack it said could be observed for dozens of kilometres.

Military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko, in an article posted online, said some 40,000 Russian troops were now massed outside Avdiivka, widely viewed as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

"Despite its losses, the Russian command still intends to capture Avdiivka, which is now a political, rather than a tactical, aim," Kovalenko wrote.

Natalia Khomeniuk, a military spokesperson in the south, said Russian forces had dropped 20 aerial bombs in Kherson region from positions they now hold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River after abandoning the region's main town last year. Russian forces shell the river's western bank almost daily.

In Poltava region, three villages lost electricity after power lines and an unnamed infrastructure facility were damaged, the Energy Ministry said on Telegram.

Railway power lines were damaged by falling debris in central Kirovohrad region, but the damage was quickly repaired, Governor Andriy Raikovych said.

The Ukrainian military said Russia carried out another missile attack on Poltava region and southern Odesa region later on Wednesday, and two of the missiles in Odesa region were downed.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Russia made no immediate comment on the Ukrainian reports.

The Russian Defence Ministry's accounts said its forces had hit Ukrainian troops and equipment in villages south of Bakhmut.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine conflict ‘fatigue’ is growing, Italian PM says

There is “a lot of fatigue” with the Ukraine conflict and EU nations will soon agree that it must be resolved through a compromise, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told a pair of Russian pranksters.

Vovan and Lexus published the clip on Wednesday of their conversation with Meloni, which reportedly dates back to September and in which they posed as an unnamed African politician.

Discussing the Ukraine conflict, the Italian leader told the pair: “I see that there is a lot of fatigue, if I have to say the truth, from all the sides. We are near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.”

“The problem is to find a way out which can be acceptable for both, without destroying the international law,” Meloni added.

The conversation then shifted to Kiev’s summer counteroffensive, the outcome of which the fake African politician suggested was a far cry from what many had expected. Meloni replied that the operation was ongoing, but acknowledged that it had not changed “the destiny of the conflict.”

“Everybody understands that it really could last many years, if we don’t try to find some solution,” Meloni stated. She then expressed concern that a badly-designed solution could trigger further conflicts, before criticizing what previously unfolded in Libya.

The North African nation was rocked by a NATO-backed anti-government uprising in 2011 which ousted longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. More than a decade later, Libya remains split among warring factions and is economically devastated.

Italy has been the destination for a flow of illegal migrants departing from Libya and crossing the Mediterranean Sea in the hope of receiving shelter in the EU. Meloni accused Brussels of not doing enough to help Rome as she discussed the issue at length with the pranksters.

The conversation also touched on European energy security and how developing energy production in Africa could improve it. “We are going to an era when we can’t manage it no more. It’s already too late,” Meloni said.

Later on Wednesday, Meloni’s office said the phone call had taken place on September 18, ahead of meetings with African leaders at the UN General Assembly. It said it regretted that the prime minister had been deceived by a prankster posing as the head of the African Union Commission, Reuters reported.

Vovan and Lexus, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Aleksey Stolyarov, have been pranking public figures for years with fake calls from people their targets trust. The pair usually goad their targets into saying things they might otherwise be unwilling to make public.

** Tank production grows sevenfold in Russia

Russia has greatly boosted production of military hardware over the past year, having multiplied by seven the number of tanks it manufactures, Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of defense conglomerate Rostec, said on Wednesday.

Speaking on Rossiya 24 TV channel, Chemezov added that the state-owned corporation has been continuously modernizing and improving its products as well.

“Over the past year, we ramped up production of tanks by seven times,”Chemezov said, adding that output of light armor, including assorted infantry fighting vehicles and armored cars grew by a factor of around 4.5. The official did not elaborate whether the figures include modernization of older vehicles or production of new ones from scratch.

Earlier this week, Rostec subsidiary Uralvagonzavod released a video showing a new batch of T-90M tanks, Russia’s most modern, undergoing final testing before being sent to the military. The tanks appeared to feature new improvements, such as additional ‘soft hull’ blocks for its turret, while external armor blocks on the hull are now cased in more robust-looking containers, compared to previous versions made of fabric.

In mid-October Uralvagonzavod completed a large batch of T-90M and T-72B3 tanks and delivered them to the military. At the time, Russia’s Deputy PM Denis Manturov said the tanks of this type were most in demand, having performed strongly during the conflict with Ukraine.

Rostec has also greatly expanded ammunition production, Chemezov added. Since the beginning of 2023 it has produced 20 times more munitions for multiple rocket launcher systems than in all of 2022. 

Back in September, Rostec’s industrial director Bekhan Ozdoev revealed the conglomerate has expanded production of high-precision weaponry, namely Iskander ground-based tactical ballistic missiles and air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. He said at the time that “among other things, the production of missiles for the Kinzhal, Iskander, and Pantsir [anti-aircraft] systems, aerial bombs, artillery and tank shells is being ramped up.”

 

Reuters/RT

 

What is an A, anyway? Does it mean that a 16-year-old recognizes 96 percent of the allusions in “The Bluest Eye”? Or that she could tell you 95 percent of the reasons the Teapot Dome Scandal was so important? Or just that she made it to most classes? Does it come from a physics teacher in the Great Smoky Mountains who bludgeons students with weekly, memory-taxing tests or from a trigonometry teacher in Topeka who works in Taylor Swift references and allows infinite retests?

One answer is that A is now the most popular high school grade in America. Indeed, in 2016, 47 percent of high school students graduated with grades in the A range. This means that nearly half of seniors are averaging within a few numeric points of one another.

A belt has several holes, but usually only one or two of them show any wear in the leather. Can the same really be true for the grades we give our students, with their varied efforts and their constellations of cognitive skills? A grading drop-down menu ought not to be so simple a tool as one person’s belt.

And grades have only gone up since 2016, most notably since the pandemic, most prominently in higher-income school districts. Were this a true reflection of student achievement, it would be reason to celebrate, but the metrics have it differently. From 1998 to 2016, average high school G.P.A.s rose from 3.27 to 3.38, but average SAT scores fell from 1026 to 1002. ACT scores among the class of 2023 were the worst in over three decades. Is it any wonder, then, that 65 percent of Americans feel they are smarter than average?

I’ll confess that in my nearly 30 years as a high school English teacher, my conceptions of grading have either softened or evolved, depending on how you see it. While I may fret over the ambiguity on Page 5 of a student’s essay, I’m aware of the greater machine. Their whole semester will boil down to one letter, and that letter joins 30 or so others on a transcript they may send to a dozen colleges, some of which have thousands of applicants.

Besides, I like my students. I see them coming into the building at 7:30, carrying three backpacks for a routine that may well go on until 7:30 that night, roughly the time it takes someone to complete a full Ironman triathlon. They will use their free periods to prep for group projects, they’ll scarf down lunch before a French quiz, and hours later, toe the line of scrimmage against those massive defensive backs from the other side of the county. I don’t need to be excellent at as many utterly different things as they do. And my skills are not constantly judged like this, year after year, by a rotation of personalities. If kids come to my writing classes and share their heart and soul on the page, I want to offer them a handhold on this stony path.

Also, it’s just so much easier to give good grades!

But when so many adolescent egos rest upon this collective, timorous deflection, it doesn’t do an awful lot of good. Passing off the average as exceptional with bromides like “wonderful” and “impressive” soothes the soul, but if there’s nothing there to modify these adjectives, teachers do little service to their colleagues who receive these students the next year. It has that looming sense of climate denial, propped up by wishful thinking.

Grade inflation, after all, acts just like real inflation. In the early 1960s, when, according to GradeInflation.com, about 15 percent of grades given at four-year colleges were A’s, a dollar could buy you a movie ticket. Now, this will get you 15 seconds with a college essay coach and a firsthand lesson in Freud’s concept of the narcissism of minor differences: The more a community shares the same thing, the higher the sensitivity becomes about small disparities. So if everyone else applying to the College on the Hill has A’s in math, your A-minus suddenly gives you the wrong distinction.

In the shape-shifting landscape of college admissions, grades have never been more important. Now more than 80 percent of four-year colleges do not require standardized tests. Interviews, perhaps the truest show of the unadorned student, are also falling the way of the Bachman’s warbler. ChatGPT brings possibly serviceable responses to essay questions, if you can live with yourself for using it. And a recommendation letter coming from someone who teaches 150 students is going to look different from someone’s who teaches 50. This all augurs toward the new Pangea: grades. As a high school teacher, I don’t want to hold that much power, nor do I think I should.

It’s so easy to see grades as sheer commodities that we all but overlook their actual purpose — as far as I know — of providing feedback. In English class, this happens not just on days we wield our red pens but every time we encourage students to appreciate the complexity of an idea, every time we can coax an apprehensive hand into the discussion about the bloody field or the Tuscan garden. It happens in meetings outside class when students fumble into ideas for their own stories and on the words, words, words of comments my English-teaching kinfolk are thoughtfully spooling onto our students’ drafts. To forsake all this for one fixed letter is to waste the process for the stamp.

How might grade inflation’s roiling cloud now be pierced? Do we approach the colleges that purport to favor both mental health and kids who take 10 A.P. exams? Or high schools, which watch these grading trend lines with the dread of sea level rise? We keep treating high school and college as two separate entities, but ultimately, they service the same people, and there needs to be more conversation about what this mess of grades is doing to them.

For now, a modest proposal: Consider the essay that comes in with a promising central idea but lacks support from a few critical moments of the text. It makes a smart but abrupt transition and closes with an interesting connection, a trifle undercooked. With another assiduous go-round, it might become something amazing. But please don’t give this draft an A-minus, the grade that puts so much potential to an early, convenient death. Instead, think of the produce of this student’s deletions and insertions, the music as he riffles through those pages he’ll annotate better next time, the reflective potential of a revision. Grading offers a singular place to teach such lessons of resilience. Instead, consider the B-plus.

This means nothing if done alone. But if we’re really going to be teachers, it’s high time to tighten the belt.

 

New York Times

Legendary billionaire investor Warren Buffett is widely recognized as one of the greatest financial minds of this era. Over the course of several decades, he amassed a significant fortune through shrewd investment strategies and timeless wisdom.

During the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. annual meeting, Buffett shared his perspective on the curious dynamics of discussing the company's investments. He offered insights into why he refrains from "talking up" Berkshire's investments, shedding light on the intricacies of investment strategies that may not always align with Wall Street's expectations.

Buffett's remarks from the meeting were candid and reflected his no-nonsense approach to investing. He mentioned that it's not uncommon for people to inquire about the investments Berkshire Hathaway holds, with the assumption that the company would want to promote these holdings. However, Buffett was quick to dispel this notion. He made it clear that Berkshire Hathaway has no vested interest in encouraging others to buy the same investments it holds. Its perspective is quite the opposite.

Buffett explained that Berkshire, either through the company or its subsidiaries, is likely to continue buying stock. This means it stands to benefit from lower stock prices, making a rise in stock value less attractive. The rationale behind this is straightforward. If Berkshire Hathaway intends to acquire more of a particular investment in the coming years, it would be counterproductive for them to publicly promote the stock, causing its value to increase prematurely. By doing so, it would essentially be buying at a higher price in the future. This pragmatic approach underscores its long-term investment strategy.

Buffett acknowledged that this perspective diverges from the conventional wisdom of Wall Street. The common belief on Wall Street is that if you own a particular stock, it's in your best interest to see its value rise in the short term. People often refer to this as "talking your book."

 

Yahoo News

President Bola Tinubu has set up a constitutional review committee to carry out “comprehensive” police reforms.

Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi, announced the development while speaking to State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of the Nigeria police council chaired by Tinubu on Tuesday.

The council at the meeting confirmed Kayode Egbetokun as the substantive inspector-general of police (IGP).

According to Mohammed, members of the committee include Ibrahim Geidam, minister of police affairs; Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA); Solomon Arase, chairman of the police service commission (PSC); and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of Kwara and chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

“The confirmation of the IGP prompted further discussion on the Nigeria Police Force and the president has formed a special committee to look at all the gaps in Nigeria’s 1999 constitution with a view to bring harmony and synergy, closing technology and manpower gaps to the Nigerian police force,” Mohammed said.

“The committee comprises the minister of police affairs, NSA, chairman of PSC, and the chairman of the NGF. They will work together with a view to make sure that the Nigeria Police is reformed.”

Also speaking, Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, said the council observed that no meaningful reforms have taken place in the police since its creation in 1861.

He added that the committee would develop ideas that would lead to reforms that would characterize the new Nigeria police force.

“The newly confirmed IGP is adequately prepared, his CV is extremely rich, very experienced, intellectually and practically,” Abiodun said.

“He also addressed us as a council on the state of policing in Nigeria, among other things that he highlighted he spoke about the need for technology-driven policing.

“The need for community-based policing, the need to ensure that required budgetary provision is provided for community-based policing which has been proven to be very effective.

“The issue of funding also came up and this committee of four to five people will look at these issues that border on reforms.

“We observed that there have been no meaningful reforms since the establishment of the Nigeria police force.”

 

The Cable

OPEC oil output has risen for a third straight month in October, a Reuters survey found on Tuesday, led by increases in Nigeria and Angola and despite ongoing cuts by Saudi Arabia and other members of the wider OPEC+ alliance to support the market.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has pumped 27.90 million barrels per day (bpd), the survey found, up by 180,000 bpd from September. Production in August had risen for the first time since February.

The steady rise in OPEC output is largely being driven by a small number of producers managing to overcome internal or external factors that have curbed supply, such as U.S. sanctions or unrest. Despite the rise in output, oil prices are finding support from conflict in the Middle East.

Nigeria boosted exports in October without any major disruption to shipments, according to shipping data and sources in the survey, increasing output by 50,000 bpd. The country is targeting a further recovery by next year. Angola also boosted exports in October, the survey found.

Smaller increases came from Iraq and Iran. Tehran's output edged up to 3.17 million bpd, the survey found. This is the highest since 2018, the year Washington re-imposed sanctions on Iran, according to Reuters surveys and OPEC figures.

Analysts have said the higher Iranian exports appear to be the result of Iran's success in evading U.S. sanctions and Washington's discretion in enforcing them.

There was no immediate boost in Venezuela's production, sources in the survey said, following the U.S. move this month to broadly ease sanctionson the country's oil sector. OPEC+ sources expect the production recovery to be gradual.

Output from the 10 OPEC members that are subject to OPEC+ supply cut agreements rose by 150,000 bpd, the survey found. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members maintained strong compliance with agreed cutbacks and extra voluntary reductions.

Saudi Arabia kept October and September output close to 9 million bpd, the survey found. The country in September extended a voluntary 1 million bpd output cut until the end of the year to provide extra support for the market.

OPEC's output is still undershooting the targeted amount by about 560,000 bpd, mainly because Nigeria and Angola lack the capacity to pump as much as their agreed level.

The Reuters survey aims to track supply to the market. It is based on shipping data provided by external sources, LSEG flows data, information from companies that track flows such as Petro-Logistics and Kpler, and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consultants.

 

Reuters

Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State and Nyesom Wike, his predecessor, yesterday met at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The duo, who reportedly fell out less than six months after succession, have been in the news since the reported move of the Rivers House of Assembly to impeach the governor.

Fubara had stormed the assembly while some lawmakers loyal to Wike were said to be planning his removal.

Addressing youths who trooped to Government House, Port Harcourt, over the development, Fubara vowed to resist any impeachment attempt against him that is not justified.

The governor also dared his political opponents to tell him his offence before he would be removed.

“I know how you people are feeling, just take it easy. Great Rivers State youths. Great! When we have the youth, we have power,” Fubara said.

“But the difference with our own power is we will not misuse it. We woke up this morning to a very troubling news. We have gone to the Assembly to see for ourselves what has happened.

“On my way there, I was shot at directly by the (sic) operation, or whatever they call it. But it doesn’t matter, somebody will die one day. Whether you die inside your house or on the road. So my journey today, whatever it is that wants to happen, let it happen.

“If Siminalayi Fubara is in peace, I am not a force neither will I be…What I’m saying is that any attempt that is not justified will be resisted. Great Rivers people! That offence that I have committed, come out and tell the people of Rivers State. That’s what I want. That offence Fubara committed warrants impeaching me.”

He pledged to always defend the Rivers residents and make available dividends of democracy to them.

“But my happiness this morning is that the people of Rivers State, represented by everybody here are with us. Let me remind you people that we will continue to defend you people. We will protect you people and enjoy the dividends of democracy. I don’t want to say much. At the appropriate time, I will address the press. Thank you. God bless you,” he added.

On the feud between the governor and his predecessor, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State said President Bola Tinubu has intervened in the political impasse in Rivers State to restore peace.

He stated this yesterday while briefing State House reporters after a meeting of National Police Council presided over by the President at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Mohammed, who said the president was talking to the parties involved in the imbroglio, added that it appeared there would be peace with his intervention.

The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDP-GF) also said the opposition governors had resolved to work with the president because he had shown good faith by not interfering with gubernatorial cases brought before the courts by PDP members.

The governor of Bauchi State, who briefed after the maiden police council meeting under the Tinubu administration, said the president engaged in discussions with the Rivers State governor and the FCT Minister, who is alleged to be behind the plot to impeach the governor to restore peace in the state.

He said, “We had a closed session. You will recall, members of the press, that there was a very serious national issue that was discussed that had security implication. That is the problem emerging in Rivers. Mr President, in his usual leadership position, intervened, and it would appear there will be peace in that respect.”

 

Daily Trust

Presiding Bishop of Rhema Christian Church and Towers, Taiwo Akinola, as part of the Church’s annual convention, addressed a press conference during which the respected cleric examined a host of issues of national importance. Here’s the full text of the conference:

1. Economy

a). Concerns about the  National Currency

Gentlemen of the Press, when you came here last year, the first national challenge we highlighted was the disheartening state of our currency. Now, to say that the value has further taken the worst form would certainly be an understatement.

Last year we lamented that the Dollar to Naira exchange rate was bad. About six years ago, a dollar exchanged for N160, but today, it is over N1000 to a dollar while pound exchange for over N1,500. This is quite saddening, especially because of its attendant effects on our national socio-economic engineering.

Definitely, Nigeria is presently facing its worst economic crisis in years. Some schools of thought believe that this is largely due to a significant devaluation of the Nigerian naira that began in June this year, coupled with some huge foreign debts that have been hanging on our national economic neck for some years now.

The Central Bank eased foreign exchange controls in mid-June, as part of the economic reforms overseen by President Bola Tinubu, prompting the official rate to plunge more than 40% over the past four months. This made the naira to suffer a massive devaluation.

Moreover, our main source of forex is challenged. Accruable revenue from crude oil is being challenged by oil theft, affecting our ability to meet our OPEC quota. This is shortening our ability to earn forex.

Some experts have also identified our propensity for import at the detriment of local production as another reason for our dwindling forex earnings. We import a lot of things in the country, including fuel and toothpicks, and this continually puts pressure on the forex. We need to top up our local production.

Meanwhile, some economists think that such a devaluation is badly needed to harmonise the naira's real value and help our attempt at improving exportation, but the social impact on the generality of the citizens is very hard to swallow.

It is equally opined that our “Bonny light” is not doing well enough in the international market and we have very little window to manoeuvre because the Naira and our productivity do not align. This is especially true as the crude oil market is on the downward trend, until a recent spike occasioned by the Israel-Hamas crisis.

At the backdrop of this dismal picture is the fact that the average Nigerian is bearing the brunt, being increasingly pauperised and thrown into unprecedented hardship. Thus, our nation presently faces high cost of living crisis as a result of high inflation, high cost of food items, transportation as well as high cost of goods and services.

As a nation-church, in Rhema, we decry the unending depreciation of the Naira, which presently is having adverse effect on our local manufacturers. We call on the government to take an urgent look at how to provide succour to Nigerians across social stratum.

For example, the 10billion dollar lifeline being proposed by the Federal government should be judiciously deployed for quick and sustainable relief outcomes.

While the Federal Government has expressed its good intentions in revamping the economy, we urge them to be more people oriented in its choice and timing of economic strategies.

For instance, the unification of the exchange rates as done by Tinubu should not have been a one step process. It should have been implemented over a period of time in phases to minimise the harsh socio—economic consequences on the people.

b. Fuel Pump Price Hike

The suffering of the people has been very profound since the removal of the subsidy in June. In our opinion, enough has not been done to mitigate the harsh impact of the fuel price hike on the poorest sections of the Nigerian population.

We had hoped that by now investment in public infrastructure, education, healthcare and jobs should have begun to materialize to materially improve the lives of millions.

Government should show some sensitivity in this regard by coming up with some solid sustainable relief measures to cushion the adverse effects on the citizens.

Also the plan to transfer N8,000 per month for over six months to 12 million households across the country, which seems to have been designed to relieve the burden of the new economic regime on the most disadvantaged was paused along the way, thus sending wrong signals to the people.

Certainly, this form of palliative is not out of place at all. After all, so many countries in the Western world are always looking for ways to support their citizens with some kind of relief, like gas support palliatives, social security and others.

Nothing should stop this government from equally devising ways of ameliorating the sufferings and hardships that millions of Nigerians are currently being forced to bear within a short period.

c. Economic Growth

From available statistics, Nigeria's Q3 2023 GDP rose by 2.5%, below the 3.5% growth in 2022, but better than the Q2 figure of 2.1%.  

This minimal  growth was driven mainly by the non-oil sectors, with the top-contributing sectors being agriculture (23%), trade (16.8%), and telecommunications (16.06%), which grew by 1.5%, 2.4% and 9.7%, respectively. It gladdens the heart to note that the non-oil sector performance was powered by the Agriculture and Trade sectors.

Though the figures are not really cosy, but it is a good starting point. More strategic policies should be put in place to reset the faulty economic structure, using technology in favour of these productive sectors. This could eventually have greater positive impacts on employment generation, wealth creation and poverty reduction.

In general, we believe that Government must make concerted and well thought-out efforts to improve its fiscal and trade policies to shore up the Naira and check its consistent downward slide.

Nigeria must also increase her foreign reserves through a proactive trade policy, reduce its appetite for foreign loans, and boosts local production to depend less on the importation of goods including refined petroleum products.

We as Nigerians too should curb our undue appetite for imported goods. Otherwise, the Naira will continue its dangerous downward slide.

d). Inflation  

Nigeria's annual inflation rate climbed to 25.8% in August 2023, from 24.08% in July and marking the highest rate since September 2005. This is indeed a sharp increase from 18.25% in 2022.

No doubt, this reflects the impacts of the removal of fuel subsidies, the devaluation of the official exchange rate and security issues in the core food-producing regions of the country.

These have made the costs of essential items such as food items, drugs, raw materials for industries, spare parts, automobiles to hit the roof. The purchasing powers of millions of Nigerians have been greatly lowered, and this was alluded to by the Organised Private Sector (OPS), which states that presently the manufacturing sector has over 200 billion unsold stocks.

The Government at this period must take the necessary steps to save the economy, and Nigerians in general, from the pangs of hunger. This may require some non-partisan interventions from patriotic egg-heads and technocrats, who abound in Nigeria and in the diaspora.

2. Insecurity

The security situation of the country is yet to significantly improve after several years of promises. Nigeria is still ranked among the top countries with the highest level of terrorism in the world.

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2023 assessed terrorism impact in 163 countries and came up with the conclusion that Nigeria is still unsafe as a result of intractable cases of terrorism. Nigeria remains among the least peaceful countries as it ranks 144th in the Global Peace Index 2023 with a state of peace that is regarded as low.

As a Church, we strongly value safety of lives and properties, and are, therefore, constantly burdened and somewhat traumatised by the growing level of insecurity in the country.

We believe that the security of lives and property is a foremost constitutional responsibility of the Government. Where a Government fails in this regard, it has truly failed and this gives a great cause for concern.

It is recorded that in the past five months alone, more than three hundred people have been reportedly murdered by bandits  in different parts of the North Central states of Nigeria. Furthermore, some heartless bandits and militants are still terrorising innocent people in the northeastern part of the country.

Curiously, therefore, some privileged socio-religious elites, like one Sheik Gumi, are still making some recklessly unguarded and rather inflammatory statements that can constitute national security risks.

Meanwhile, we must appeal to the Armed Forces to continue to work harder and ensure that such culprits are brought to book without any ethno-religious considerations, in a bid to make Nigeria safer for everyone to live in and make Nigeria an attractive destination for investments.

At the state level, we equally call on the Governors, to take up the challenge to step up their activities in securing their States. All hands must be on deck to reverse the deteriorating security issues in the country so that the Governments can discharge their primary responsibilities of safeguarding the lives and properties of the citizens.

4. Youth Unemployment and Nigeria’s future

The future of Nigeria lies with the youths as they are one of society’s main agents of change and progress. But, sadly, the  ruling class in Nigeria rather toys with the future of our youths, through lack of employment opportunities and failure to explore the possibility of channeling their energy towards productive ventures by providing enabling environment for them to thrive in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Agro-business, etc.

In recent times, out of disenchantment with the system, with sadness, the best of our youths are fleeing the country in droves, via the Japa syndrome,in search of greener pastures.  

Very urgently, concrete efforts must be exerted to tackle the twin challenge of unemployment and poverty in our beloved nation, Nigeria.

We are quite aware that the present central administration has set new precedence by appointing a few youths into the Federal cabinet. It is our hope that government at all levels will do the same, and that the youths also will show that they believe in the future of Nigeria through their words and deeds.

We are also appealing to the Governments at all levels to urgently restructure our economic system, develop sincere courage to fight corruption, and address the issue of unemployment in the better interests of employable youths and a more beautiful future for the country at large.

5. Roads and Other Infrastructural Facilities

The World Bank has described the level and quality of infrastructure in Nigeria as low despite the Federal Government's claim of borrowing to finance infrastructure. In its Nigeria public finance review report, it said that Nigeria's physical infrastructure gap would likely reach $3tn in the next 30 years.

The reality on ground is that there is simply no maintenance culture as many of our roads are in very bad shape. This has led to a colossal loss of man-hour in traveling, caused problems for the transportation of agricultural products and heightened the insecurity on our roads, just to mention a few.

The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) should accentuate actions aimed at continuously maintaining all the Federal roads across the country to make them more motor-able to reduce the man-hours being wasted on the highways and the perennial and avoidable loss of lives and properties.

Generally, we urge all the three tiers of Government to generate synergies and intensify efforts in the rehabilitation and construction of new roads. Moreover, partnership with well meaning private investors can also be explored to bring some relief to this present deplorable  state of our infrastructure.

We still challenge our political leaders across the board in the country must make it a habit to occasionally drive on the roads the people use every day, like Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway, so that they can see the messy ground-level reality and feel the pains of the people they govern. Certainly, we believe that genuine servant-leadership will not call for less.

6. Drug Abuse amongst Nigerians.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NAFDAC) has disclosed that over 14.3 million Nigerians are involved in drug abuse.

We like to bring to the attention of the Federal Government the need for urgent and concerted efforts to curb the rampart abuse of hard drugs amongst Nigerians. This has become the major support system for all forms of criminal and cult activities.  

Sadly, this menace has infiltrated even to our primary schools, with young boys and girls hooked on gum and other forms of narcotics. As we look up to God to break the demonic hold over the future of this great nation, we implore all people of influence to fight it with all passion.

At this stage, rehabilitation of addicts should also be a strong part of our drug control machinery. We look forward to future better than this for posterity.  

7. Patriotism

It brings grief to the heart that many Nigerians have become so deadened to the noble idea of patriotism. While this trend may be attributable to the severe economic hardship and other negative experiences that we are facing, it is still not acceptable.

Many Nigerians will not wince at sharing unpalatable news about the nation, and will always be glad to accept the worst about the nation. The national  situation may be bad but it is not a song to be sung so gleefully by us Nigerians.

Specifically, the unwarranted negative attention given to Nigeria in global circles is not helpful to our general reformist clamours, or even to our collective national outlook. Unfortunately, the reputation we build by ourselves for ourselves makes us stink wherever we go!

As a Church, even though we are significantly apolitical, yet we strongly urge all Nigerians to desist from careless talks about the country. We urge all citizens to realize that the current socio-political situation of the country is bad enough, and we certainly have no need for further distractions that could eventually plunge us deeper into abysmal darkness.

At this point, we bless God that the sickening aftermath of the 2023 presidential election whereby some national leaders went overboard in rubbishing themselves and, by extension, smearing dirt on Nigeria and other Nigerians, in the market-square has finally been laid to rest, especially now that our Supreme Court has given her ruling on it.

Usually, when top political elites continue to fight dirty, it is the poor masses and downtrodden in the society that usually bear the brunt. Hence, we use this medium to appeal to all Nigerians across the various political spectrum, to please end all the diverse battles and needless controversies on the matters of 2023 Presidential election and electioneering, and sheathe our political swords now as law abiding and patriotic citizens.

We also urge every Nigerian at this time to please allow our political and emotional wounds to heal, and let us free our minds from all forms of vendetta, ill feelings, tribal animosity and egregious negativism against each other. Let’s forgive and leave behind us the ugly irritations of the past few months, and decide to be good and patriotic Nigerians again.

Because Nigerians are highly endowed, deep-rooted in thinking, highly cerebral, remarkably religious, we may not and cannot all agree with the President and his government on all their choices and policies all the time.

Albeit, we must all congratulate him now, and encourage him to focus on his sworn duty to deliver decent living and opportunities for positive human development for all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, gender, region or religion.

Moreover, no matter how we feel about certain issues, it is quite settling for me personally to have realized long ago that the best among men don’t always have the rule, but only those whom the Everlasting Arms of destiny choose (Daniel 4:17).

Indeed, only the Most High God rules and overrules in the affairs of men. Unfortunately, stress, troubles and social upheavals continue until we know that (Daniel 4:25).

No doubt, the tasks involved in building a big and promising nation like Nigeria, with sustainable economic growth and enviable security architecture, with top-notch social infrastructure and amenities, in a united, highly motivated nationalistic outlook, clearly just and realistically egalitarian are very enormous, and will certainly require the cooperation of all true patriots.

We use this medium, therefore, to call on all registered political parties to please embrace the focus of building a united, secure, peaceful and prosperous nation, which we all Nigerians, at home and abroad, will be proud to call our home country.

I also challenge all our past and present leaders to genuinely work together, and in concert with the electorate for a better future.

Yes, I totally agree that we all must speak up regularly, agitate and keep the ruling party on the right track at all times. Howbeit, we must do these rightly, peacefully, maturely and decently, with a keen patriotic sense of a greater outlook for Nigeria and all Nigerians.

Let’s all deploy our peculiar resources and use our unique positions to build unity and promote trust, positioning issues that will build national harmony and peaceful coexistence, and eschewing evil and violence all over Nigeria.

Additionally, in our individual ways, let's always think of what we can do to make our nation better. Let's look inward knowing that out of the seed of adversity comes the strongest and enduring fruit of achievements.

I strongly affirm that the great Nigeria of our dream can still evolve in our lifetime. And, by the grace of God, in togetherness we shall win, and our collective future shall be even better and greater, in Jesus name. Amen.

We hereby charge all Nigerians to continue to pray for God’s mercy upon our great nation. There is nothing so woeful that grace cannot redeem. Let us have faith in God, and have confidence that He can still help our nation, Nigeria. It is not over yet because God still hears prayers.

Conclusion

In every situation, Jesus Christ is Lord! His Church is marching on, and the forces of hell shall not prevail against her, even as she continues to play her role as a pillar of truth and a haven of hope for all Nigerians.  

Dear gentlemen of the press, we thank you very sincerely for coming. And, on a final note, we humbly urge you to please represent our views as fairly and clearly as we present them, avoiding all forms of sensationalism and skewed reporting.

We also use this as an opportunity to invite you and your communities to the Rhema World Convention 2023. We pray that the El-Shaddai God will answer your prayers as you join us in Jesus Name. Amen.

God bless the Church of Jesus Christ, worldwide.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

God bless you, in Jesus Name.

** Taiwo Akinola, Presiding Bishop & Pastor-General, RCC&T, Int’l. 

Israeli airstrikes crush apartments in Gaza refugee camp, as ground troops battle Hamas militants

A barrage of Israeli airstrikes leveled apartment buildings in a refugee camp near Gaza City on Tuesday, with rescuers clawing through the destruction to pull men, women and children from the rubble. Israel said the strike, which targeted a senior Hamas military leader, destroyed a militant command center and an underground tunnel network.

The toll from the attack in the Jabaliya camp was not immediately known. The director of the nearby hospital where casualties were taken, Atef Al-Kahlot, said hundreds of people were wounded or killed, but he did not provide exact figures.

The Israeli military said dozens of militants were killed, including a key Hamas commander for northern Gaza.

Israel aggressively defended the attack, with military spokesman Jonathan Conricus saying the targeted commander had also been a key planner of the bloody Oct. 7 rampage that started the war, and that the apartment buildings collapsed only because the vast underground Hamas complex had been destroyed.

Neither side’s account could be independently confirmed.

The strike underlined the anticipated surge in casualties on both sides as Israeli troops battling Hamas militants advance deeper into the northern Gaza Strip toward dense, residential neighborhoods. Israel has vowed to crush Hamas’ ability to govern Gaza or threaten Israel following the Oct. 7 assault, which ignited the war. Hamas, an Islamic militant group, openly calls for the destruction of Israel.

Israel said two of its soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Gaza, the first military deaths it reported since the ground offensive into the tiny Mediterranean territory accelerated late last week.

Several hundred thousand Palestinians remain in northern Gaza in the path of the ground assault. They have crowded into homes or are packed by the thousands into hospitals that are already overwhelmed with patients and running low on supplies.

In the Jabaliya refugee camp — a densely built-up area of small streets on Gaza City’s outskirts — dozens of rescuers searched for survivors amid a series of obliterated buildings and others that had partially collapsed.

Young men carried the limp forms of two children from the upper floors of the crumbling frame of one damaged apartment building, while helping down another child and woman. It was unclear whether the children were alive or dead. Gray dust, apparently left by pulverized concrete, seemed to coat nearly everything.

The Israeli military said it carried out a wide-scale strike in Jabaliya on Hamas infrastructure “that had taken over civilian buildings.”

Daniel Hagari said an underground Hamas installation beneath a targeted building collapsed, toppling other nearby buildings. Conricus later said the main strike had hit between buildings.

“We don’t intend for the ground to collapse,” he told reporters. “But the issue is that Hamas built their tunnels there and that they’re running their operations from there.”

He said the commander killed in the strike, Ibrahim Biari, played an important role in the Oct. 7 attack and had been involved in anti-Israeli attacks going back decades.

Also on Tuesday, the Israeli military said ground troops took control of a Hamas military stronghold in west Jabaliya, killing 50 militants.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem denied the military’s claim, saying it was trying to justify “its heinous crime” against civilians.

Hagari repeated calls for civilians to evacuate northern Gaza to the south. The military says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants endanger civilians by operating among them. The military has also repeatedly emphasized it will strike Hamas wherever it finds it.

Some 800,000 Palestinians have reportedly fled to the south, but many have not, in part because they say nowhere is safe as Israeli airstrikes in the south have continued to cause civilian deaths. The window to flee may be closing, as Israeli forces reached Gaza’s main north-south highway this week.

More than 8,500 Palestinians have been killed in the war, mostly women and minors, the Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday, without providing a breakdown between civilians and fighters. The figure is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ initial attack, also an unprecedented figure. Palestinian militants also abducted around 240 people during their incursion and have continued firing rockets into Israel.

A day after Israel’s first successful rescue of a Hamas captive, the spokesman of the militant group’s armed wing said they plan to release some non-Israeli hostages in coming days. Hamas has previously released four hostages, and has said it would let the others go in return for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, which has dismissed the offer.

More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have fled their homes, with hundreds of thousands sheltering in packed U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters or at hospitals.

The war has also threatened to ignite fighting on other fronts. Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group have traded fire daily along the border, and Israel and the U.S. have struck targets in Syria linked to Iran, which supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups in the region.

Some 200,000 people have been evacuated from Israeli towns near Gaza and the northern border with Lebanon.

The military said it shot down what appeared to be a drone near the southernmost city of Eilat and intercepted a missile over the Red Sea on Tuesday, neither of which entered Israeli airspace.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen later claimed they fired ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, saying it was their third such operation and threatening more. Earlier this month, a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Red Sea intercepted missiles and drones launched toward Israel by the Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen.

In the occupied West Bank, where Israeli-Palestinian violence has also surged, the army demolished the family home of Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas official exiled over a decade ago. An official in the village of Aroura said the home had been vacant for 15 years.

Israeli forces reportedly have advanced north and east of Gaza City. South of the city, Israeli troops were also trying to cut off the territory’s main highway and the parallel road along the Mediterranean coast, according to Dawood Shehab, a spokesperson for Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group allied with Hamas.

Zaki Abdel-Hay, a Palestinian living a few minutes’ walk from the road south of Gaza City, said people are afraid to use it. “People are very scared. The Israeli tanks are still close,” he said over the phone, adding that “constant artillery fire” could be heard near the road.

The Israeli military said it struck some 300 militant targets over the past day, including compounds inside tunnels, and that troops had engaged in several battles with militants armed with antitank missiles and machine guns.

Gaza’s humanitarian crisis continued to worsen.

The World Health Organization said two hospitals were damaged and an ambulance destroyed in Gaza over the last two days. It said all 13 hospitals operating in the north have received Israeli evacuation orders in recent days. Medics have refused such orders, saying it would be a death sentence for patients on life support.

Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the largest in the territory, is on the verge of running out of fuel, the Health Ministry said.

There has been no central electricity in Gaza for weeks, and Israel has barred the entry of fuel needed to power generators for hospitals and homes, saying it wants to prevent it from falling into Hamas’ hands.

It has allowed a limited amount of food, water, medicine and other supplies to enter from Egypt, though far less than what is needed, relief groups say. A convoy of 59 aid trucks entered through the Rafah Crossing with Egypt on Tuesday — the largest yet — bringing the total that have entered since Oct. 22 to 216, according to Wael Abu Omar, Hamas’ spokesperson for the crossing.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, says 64 of its staff have been killed since the start of the war.

 

AP