i morning briefing: Amid the horror
Welcome to Friday’s Early Edition from i.
Most people will wake up this morning to news of the rising numbers of dead, the statistics of brutal destruction and images of unspeakable and unforgettable horror. While Israel suffers its highest death toll since the 1973 war and faces a complex task in retrieving hostages taken over the border, there are warnings of devastation in Gaza, where food and water are running out. 6,000 bombs have bombarded the narrow strip containing two million people since Saturday, far exceeding anything dropped during the US’ campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. While the US and UK, among other nations, have urged Israel to exercise restraint when it launches its ground invasion, there is no doubt that the conflict is about to escalate further. Overnight, Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Difficult days await us but we will not be deterred and we will not give in”. There is also, at the same time, a war of words intensifying elsewhere. Social media is awash with inflammatory and toxic posts, it is rife with disinformation. Other debates rage too – whether pro-Palestinians have a right to protest in Western countries, whether broadcasters are using impartial language, the list goes on. The situation is overwhelming, and the majority of us are helpless in the face of it. How can we stay rational? What do people wishing for peace suggest? We’ll look at some of them, after the headlines.
Today’s news, and why it matters
The UK is aiding international efforts to find hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to multiple intelligence sources. UK Government intelligence agencies are actively engaged in a widespread international search for information that could help pinpoint the location of missing people taken during the deadly attacks by Hamas on southern Israel on Saturday, i can reveal.
The US and UK have urged Israel to show restraint and do what it can to protect Palestinian civilians as the country prepares to mount a likely ground invasion of Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks. In its first military move since last weekend’s massacre of hundreds of Israelis, Britain is to send two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean and begin surveillance flights in the region from today.
The first flight carrying British nationals left Israel on Thursday after airline cancellations prompted the UK government to organise evacuations. A small but growing number of the 50,000 to 60,000 single British and dual British-Israeli citizens living in the country requested flights to the UK amid fears of increasing instability in the country.
Manchester’s Jewish community is turning to private security firms for added protection amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across the UK in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel, i understands. Community Security Trust – the charity which protects British Jews from antisemitism – says it has experienced a 300 per cent surge in reports since the Hamas attack which has left more than 1,300 Israelis dead last Saturday.
A golf club in Staffordshire that in is the path of HS2 had a new £7m club house bankrolled by the Government after sacrificing £400,000 of land, i can reveal. Whittington Heath Golf Club near Lichfield, which was founded in 1886 and is believed to be one of the oldest in England, faced potential closure in 2014 after plans were announced for the HS2 rail line, which would run directly through the course.
Four ideas for remaining rational and looking for hope in the Israel-Gaza conflict:
Uphold international law: Israeli journalist Dimi Reid makes the case in this thread that what’s needed is “candour and accountability—including on every time victims were also perpetrators”. Human rights expert Brigitte Herremans says upholding international law is paramount. “Contrary to what many Western policymakers shamelessly assert, we do not have to take sides,” she wrote on Twitter. “Doing so implies that we believe some victims are more deserving of sympathy than others. The only correct choice is to uphold international law and fundamental values. Once more, the fact that armed groups commit war crimes does not justify states committing war crimes. There is no excuse for stripping civilians of their immunity, under any circumstances.” Former hostage and campaigner Sir Terry Waite also made his own case for impartiality in a letter to the Times, writing: “It is extremely difficult for anyone to remain impartial, but that is what is required now more than ever. I fear that many more lives will be lost in the coming weeks and that the divide is almost certain to increase. Reason must prevail to protect the innocent.”
There is another way, says Ian Dunt: “Part of the horror we feel is because of the sense of grim inevitability around what is happening. There is another way. It is not about iron walls, but mutual advancement. Hamas can be eradicated through a strategy that minimises the harm to Palestinian civilians. A safe Jewish homeland can exist alongside Palestinian self-determination through a political process. Right now, these ideas seem hopeless. They seem barely more than a whisper in a thunderstorm. But they cannot be given up on, even when they appear impossible. Because without them, there is only horror.” Read his full piece here.
Find a proper resolution to the Gaza Strip: “Anyone who wishes for peace must unequivocally condemn the Hamas atrocities, put pressure on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release all the hostages, and help deter Hezbollah and Iran from intervening. This would give Israelis a bit of breathing space and a tiny ray of hope,” author Yuval Noah Hariri writes in the Guardian. “Second, a coalition of the willing – ranging from the US and the EU to Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority – should take responsibility for the Gaza Strip away from Hamas, rebuild Gaza and simultaneously completely disarm Hamas and demilitarise the Gaza Strip.” (For more on what might happen if Israel reoccupied Gaza, read here.)
Use moral judgement: Writing for Vox, journalist Zack Beauchamp argues that peace can only be achieved when both sides see the “dignity and humanity in the other”. He writes: “Our role, as foreigners, should be to help foster this belief. This does not mean mealy-mouthed statements about peace, but specific interventions designed to push our individual governments toward fostering that sense of respect. This is not just how we say the right things about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: It’s how we, in the end, will figure out how best to contribute to peace down the line. To think otherwise, and find fault only with one side, leads to the moral oblivion of cheering the slaughter of children.” His sentiments are echoed by Nicholas Kristof, writing in the New York Times, who says while there are no easy answers Israel could take some wisdom from previous conflicts. And: “If we owe a moral responsibility to Israeli children, then we owe the same moral responsibility to Palestinian children. Their lives have equal weight. If you care about human life only in Israel or only in Gaza, then you don’t actually care about human life.”
Around the world
Palestinian families have just days worth of water left after supplies to Gaza were cut off, while wounded civilians are lying in hospital corridors as the health system reaches “breaking point”. Israeli authorities have cut off power and water to the population of Gaza in response to the attacks by Hamas on southern Israel on Saturday.
Israel’s “window of opportunity” to launch a ground operation in Gaza could be closing amid growing international concern over high civilian casualties, an Israeli security source has claimed. “I think the green light is only open for about two weeks so Israel should hurry up,” said Yoni Ben-Menachem, a military analyst with close connections to the army, suggesting that international pressure for a ceasefire will soon increase.
A Colorado police officer has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing. Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty by the 12-person jury, while officer Jason Rosenblatt was found not guilty.
A former member of communist East Germany’s Stasi secret police has been charged with murder over the death of a Polish man in 1974. The man was shot in the back as he was walking through a security checkpoint through the Berlin Wall into West Germany.
Eurostar, which has been the sole operator of passenger rail services in the Channel Tunnel since it opened in 1994, looks likely to be joined by a competitor on the high-speed line connecting the UK with Europe. A UK-registered company, Evolyn Mobility Limited, has said that it intends to acquire 12 Avelia high-speed trains from French manufacturer Alstrom. Four more trains are likely to be added.
Watch out for…
Sweden, where Rishi Sunak joins northern European leaders for a summit designed to focus on the threat from Russia, but is now expected to put the conflict in Israel and Gaza at the top of the agenda.
Thoughts for the day
Israel has a right to respond to Hamas, but it’s dangerously close to repeating mistakes of 9/11. Dilemmas faced by leaders as they confront Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are disturbing. Peace, however, does not come from bombs, bullets and repression, writes Ian Birrell.
Even in the darkness, we cannot give up on the hope of peace for Israel and Gaza. A safe Jewish homeland can exist alongside Palestinian self-determination, argues Ian Dunt.
Britons feel fooled by Captain Tom’s family – and for that they will never be forgiven, says Emily Watkins.
I’ve fallen in love with the Beckhams again (though I know these masters of PR are manipulating me). Gen Z girls everywhere – and Eleanor Peake – have been captivated by a Noughties David Beckham.
Culture Break
‘I pretended to be Idris Elba’s son to get my foot in the door.’ Social media sensation Munya Chawawa wants to change the face of British satire. He talks to Tom Nicholson about battling his inner critic on his first stand-up tour.
The Big Read
Why you should be sceptical that ultra-processed foods are ‘addictive’. Scientists are debating whether the list of things to which you can be addicted should also include ultra-processed foods.
Sport
How Joe Root is quietly proving he is England’s most important player at the Cricket World Cup. Root is as instrumental to England’s success off the field as he is on it, writes Chris Stocks.
Something to brighten your day
Seven rules for a long and happy life, according to 100-year-olds. From G&Ts to daily fresh air, centenarians share the secrets to their health and wellbeing with Anna Bonet.
