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A deadly incident at an aid distribution checkpoint in Gaza City took place just hours before the announcement of a grim milestone.
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Photo: Mahmoud Essa / AP
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1. At least 100 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, stampede
Israeli tanks opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians rushing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City. According to Gazan authorities, at least 112 Palestinians were killed in the chaos and more than 750 were wounded.
The “flour massacre,” as it’s being referred to, occurred early Thursday morning. Israeli officials said the soldiers opened fire after the crowd approached in a threatening way, and that some of the casualties were caused by stampeding.
President Biden said that the incident could complicate negotiations for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
The incident occurred just hours before the Gaza health ministry announced that the Palestinian death toll had surpassed 30,000. According to the ministry, two-thirds of the Palestinians killed since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks are women and children.
The actual number of people killed is probably much higher, according to the BBC, as the figure does not include the thousands thought to be buried beneath buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes since the conflict began.
Earlier this week, the U.N. Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office said that over half a million people in Gaza are “one step away from famine.” Aid groups say it has been all but impossible to get aid into Gaza due to the desperate crowds of starving people and the difficulty of coordinating with Israel’s military.
The U.S. is considering airdropping aid into Gaza, U.S. officials told Axios. Meanwhile, Canada said it will start airdropping aid into the region next week. Earlier this week, Jordan worked with international partners to deliver aid to the region by dropping it into the sea.
Related: Only one in three Americans thinks the United Nations is doing a good job, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday.
Read Blue Marble’s story on the survey results for more.
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2. Americans are more divided than ever on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Most Republicans, 56%, say the U.S. should take Israel’s side in the war, while most Democrats say the U.S. shouldn’t take either side, according to a joint survey from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Ipsos released Thursday.
The survey — conducted Feb. 16 to 18 among 1,039 American adults — also showed that most Americans (56%) prefer that the U.S. stay neutral, and half want restrictions put in place so that U.S. military aid can’t be used toward military operations against Palestinians.
Read the full survey results at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid. It’s received about $300 billion in total, nearly all of which has gone to its military.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration told Israel it must sign a letter assuring the U.S. that it will follow international law while using U.S.-provided weapons and let aid into the Gaza Strip.
Read more: How much financial assistance has the US given Israel?
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3. Freedom is on the decline for one-fifth of the world’s population
Political rights and civil liberties deteriorated in 52 countries last year, affecting one-fifth of the global population, according to a report from Freedom House.
Election manipulation, attacks on political pluralism, and war were the main drivers of the decrease, study co-author Cathryn Grothe told Axios.
These findings come during one of the most consequential election years in history. In 2024, more than 60 countries will hold or have already held national elections, representing nearly half of the global population.
Anti-establishment, populist views are widespread among voters, according to an Ipsos poll conducted in 28 countries late last year.
People feel that “the system is broken” and they want a leader to “take [their] country back from the rich and powerful.”
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In other news
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Western countries risk nuclear war if NATO sends troops to Ukraine. [France 24]
- This has likely been the warmest February on record, according to preliminary data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. If confirmed, it will be the ninth consecutive month to break monthly-temperature records. [Reuters]
- Global warming has ravaged crop yields in northern Malawi, especially for bananas, which quickly rot in the extreme heat. In order to salvage their crops, a group of farmers has taken to making banana wine. [Al Jazeera]
- In order to combat deforestation, women in Uganda are using food scraps rather than wood to make charcoal. Nearly a quarter of Ugandans rely on charcoal for cooking, and traditional charcoal production is the main driver of deforestation in the country. [Reasons to Be Cheerful]
- Everyone’s good at something: Dutch people spend twice as long sitting down as other Europeans, according to a report released this week. [Dutch News]
- Finally some good news: Irish writer Sally Rooney’s next novel will be published in September. It’s called “Intermezzo,” and it follows two brothers in the wake of their father’s death. [Publishers Weekly]
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Say that again
“I’m laughing about it now, but I was so angry for the kids and the parents. I know people spent a lot of money coming here. It’s a disservice to what I do. Eventually, I just walked off. I was like, ‘I’m done.’ But someone got a picture of me.”
This is the young actress Kirsty Paterson talking about her experience at a disastrous “Willy Wonka” event in Glasgow, Scotland, after a photo of her there went viral. [Vulture]
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‘Why are you gay? Why are you like this?’
On Wednesday, Ghana’s parliament passed a bill that would make homosexuality or support of LGBTQ rights punishable by up to five years in prison.
Last year, Blue Marble spoke with a gay man from Uganda, which has some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world.
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What we’re reading
During the early days of the COVID shutdown, one of my friends announced on Twitter he’d just subscribed to the Criterion Channel. Did people have any movie recommendations for him?
I said I’d give him tons of recs … if he gave me his password.
Such is the allure of the Criterion Collection, which has bestowed its stamp of approval on more than 1,600 films from around the world.
For The New York Times Magazine, Joshua Hunt dug into how the 40-year-old company became the arbiter of what makes a good movie.
The story is worth reading. As a bonus once you’re done, enjoy French director Justine Triet’s visit to the Criterion Closet. Her film “Anatomy of a Fall” is up for five Oscars this year.
—Laura Adamczyk, staff writer
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow.
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