Russia, North Korea sign defense pledge
President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un Restart the Cold War Russia and North Korea’s Mutual Defense Commitment yesterday.
They pledged to provide “mutual assistance in case of aggression,” but it was unclear whether such assistance would mean full-scale military intervention, as provided for in the now-defunct 1961 treaty.
But Putin said that under the new agreement, Russia “does not rule out developing military-technical cooperation with North Korea.” He also promised Unspecified technical assistanceIf it includes several key technologies that Kim Jong Un seeks to perfect, it could help North Korea better target its adversaries, starting with the United States.
Putin also appears to have given up on efforts to curb North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. He said yesterday: “Pyongyang has the right to take reasonable measures to strengthen its defense capabilities, ensure national security and safeguard its sovereignty.” However, he did not specify whether this included further development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
What is preventing aid from entering Gaza?
Humanitarian organizations are trying to bring thousands of tons of food, fuel and medicine to Gaza, but most of it is blocked from entering. Why?
Some problems are unique to war zones. Aid organizations want to protect their staff from bombs and gunfire. Roads and warehouses are destroyed, making the terrain difficult to navigate. But there are bigger problems: Israel imposes opaque rules to deny aid trucks passage, citing security concerns. Egypt blocks aid in protest of Israeli military action. Hamas steals or tries to steal aid.
In other words, those responsible for allowing aid into Gaza put their own interests above helping the Palestinians. In doing so, they repeatedly made decisions that humanitarian organizations could not overcome.
Israel’s concerns
Israel usually blocks aid for two reasons: it wants to prevent any supplies that could help Hamas, and it wants to keep aid workers safe.
The first reason is more controversial. U.S. officials and humanitarian groups believe that the supplies Hamas has intercepted are minimal. Critics say Israel is being overly cautious with exaggerated threats — or worse, using the aid as a weapon against the Palestinians. “They are trying to provide a credible cover story for collective punishment,” said Jeremy Konedik, president of Refugees International, a humanitarian group.
But Hamas Blocked Some assistanceIsrael said its precautionary measures prevented the group from seizing more oil.
Other Hamas tactics have also made Israel more cautious. The group often places its personnel in hospitals and hides weapons in schools to hide behind civilians. Israel fears that Hamas may also hide behind humanitarian organizations and workers, so it requires aid groups to report their activities. Israel approves specific routes, for example, in part to ensure that these are indeed humanitarian missions and not covert enemy operations.
Yet those checks can fail. In April, Israel killed seven World Central Kitchen employees, even though the group said it acted in coordination with the military. Israel called the attack a mistake and apologized for the killings. It fired two of the officers involved and reprimanded others.
“That was a turning point,” said my colleague Adam Rasgon, who is based in Jerusalem. After the massacre, Israel opened more crossings to allow aid to enter Gaza. The Israeli military also Announced this week Operations in parts of southern Gaza will be suspended during daytime; the pause in fighting could help Palestinians get more aid.
Since Israel controls access to and from Gaza, much of the blame for the crisis in Gaza falls on Israel. But Israel is not the only country to have stopped supplying Palestinians.
Last month, Egypt protested Israel’s incursion by blocking aid shipments after Israel entered the southern city of Rafah. Egypt does not want to be seen as accepting Israeli control of the Rafah crossing and is unhappy with Israel operating so close to its border. (Think about it: Egypt once occupied Gaza but lost control in the 1967 war with Israel.)
Egypt has since begun allowing some aid into Gaza through Kerem Shalom, a border crossing with Israel. But the United Nations says the amount of aid entering Gaza has fallen by nearly two-thirds since Israel began its operation in Rafah. Despite these problems, humanitarian organizations rarely criticize Egypt’s role in the crisis. “They know that Egypt is very important to their operations, and they are also very unacceptable to public criticism,” Adam told me.
In addition, some goods were looted by Palestinians out of hunger and desperation or in order to sell them on the Gaza black market.
Israeli far-right activists have also intercepted aid trucks heading to Gaza from Jordan and smashed the supplies, arguing that Palestinians should not receive aid until Hamas returns Israeli hostages. Imposing sanctions Last week, Tsav 9 was confirmed as one of the groups involved in the attack.
A choice
Aid workers often argue that responsibility for all these problems ultimately lies with Israel: the people of Gaza are starving because Israel has launched a military campaign in the region; it has the power to prevent the war.
But Israel has a real national security interest in destroying Hamas. Israel wants to ensure that attacks like the one on October 7th never happen again. To do that, Israeli leaders believe they must fight in the Gaza Strip. In this sense, Israel is prioritizing the security of Israelis over the security of Gazans—a predictable, albeit controversial, option for war.
North Macedonia claims King Alexander And other historical figures, trying to establish a national identity. Greece and Bulgaria are not happy about this. They think that this new country, which was born only 33 years ago, has swallowed up their traditions and heroes.
Conversation starters
Life
Remembering Willie Mays
Giants center fielder Willie Mays is considered by many to be the greatest all-around baseball player of all time. Died at the age of 93He was known as the “Say Hey Kid” and hit 660 home runs in his career.
But Mays was more than just a consummate baseball player — he was one of the most fascinating figures in the sport and in America. He captured the passions of baseball fans at a time when black players were still emerging in the major leagues and racial segregation still loomed in his native South.
“The numbers and the accolades are only part of his story.” My colleague Kurt Streeter writes“because how The way Mays played — he broke baseball’s boundaries with his intelligence, speed, style and power — made him the most beloved star in baseball.”
