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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli troops had “stormed” Gaza City, Hamas’s main headquarters, from the north and south and were now fighting in the “heart of Gaza City”. US president Joe Biden said he had asked Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause fighting in the enclave.
In news: the latest developments
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G7 foreign ministers are set to issue a joint statement on the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday and are expected to call for temporary pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
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Netanyahu told ABC that Israel would have “overall security responsibility” for Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the war. John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesperson, said Biden “maintains his position that reoccupation [of Gaza] by Israeli forces is not the right thing to do”.
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Israeli forces have in effect divided Gaza in half and encircled Gaza City. Hundreds of Palestinians fled the city for the south of the strip on Tuesday, raising their hands and waving white flags as they moved past Israeli tanks.
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The death toll from Israel’s assault on Gaza has surpassed 10,300 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials in the strip.
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The US voted on Tuesday to censure Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American lawmaker in Congress, over comments she made about the war.
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People in Israel marked one month since Hamas’s bloody rampage through the south of the country on October 7 left more than 1,400 people dead. Relatives of the more than 240 people still held hostage by Hamas gathered at Jerusalem’s Western Wall to plead for their return.
Military briefing: the battle for Gaza City
The encirclement of Gaza City by Israeli forces is the latest step in their mission to destroy Hamas, striking at what one official called the militant group’s “centre of gravity” with a campaign that could stretch Israel’s military resources and expose its troops to the perils of close combat.
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Analysis: central bankers split on whether war-related energy jump will fuel higher rates
Central banks are at odds over how to respond to a possible jump in energy prices should the Israel-Hamas war escalate. While rate-setters have conventionally ignored volatility in the energy markets, central bank heads in Canada and the UK have signalled they would need to address the inflationary risk of higher oil and gas prices.
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Comment: Iran’s interests are trumping the Palestinian tragedy
“Many Palestinians felt betrayed, not out of a desire for more conflict, but out of desperation for some back-up amid the devastating Israeli pounding of Gaza. But Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s speech was an opening gambit in Tehran’s negotiations with the US for its future place in the region, at a critical juncture not only for the Middle East but for the Islamic Republic.” Kim Ghattas
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