“He Told Me, ‘If I Die, Just Take Care of Your Brothers’”

On Saturday, October 7, Loay Elbasyouni woke up at his home in Los Angeles to a slew of text and WhatsApp messages from friends and family. Hours earlier, thousands of armed Hamas fighters attacked parts of Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 200 in the deadliest attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust. In response, Israel launched a barrage of ongoing air strikes that have leveled portions of Gaza, killing more than 3,700 and displacing thousands more. All Elbasyouni could think about was his 75-year-old father and 67-year-old mother, who live in Germany but also have a house in Gaza and had been visiting family there since June. Elbasyouni, who spoke on Sunday, October 15, is now trying to figure out how to get his parents out of the territory.

Instagram says it’s sorry for auto-translating some Palestinian users’ bios to “terrorist.” This comes on the heels of a distressing report that Hamas fighters hijacked some of their Israeli victims’ Facebook and Instagram accounts to livestream the October 7 attacks. In lighter news outside our social-media hellscape, strip-mall sushi strikes again. Kim Kardashian is doing her civic duty. And here’s one burning question to send you into the weekend: Would you pay $4,500 for a 157-piece Le Creuset set that arrives at your home on a pallet and likely encompasses every kitchen item you’d ever need?

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