Tuesday Briefing: Israel expands its Gaza operations

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December 5, 2023

By Jonathan Wolfe

Good morning. We’re covering Israel’s escalating assault in southern Gaza and the youth vote in Taiwan.

Plus, kiwis return to Wellington.

Palestinians fled from Khan Younis to Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday  Mahmud Hams/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Israel expands operations across Gaza

Israel widened its military campaign against Hamas in southern Gaza yesterday, with armored vehicles rolling closer to its main city and strikes pummeling urban areas.

Israel has signaled for days that it is preparing a ground invasion of the south, where it says Hamas fighters and commanders are hiding. The Israeli military said that its ground troops and air force “continued to operate across the Gaza Strip,” but did not offer details about the location of its operations. Here’s the latest.

Israel again told civilians to leave parts of Khan Younis, the area’s largest city, and head farther south including to Rafah, on the Egyptian border. Aid agencies, however, warned that the shelters in the south were already overcrowded.

“The level of human suffering is intolerable,” said the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, who visited Gaza on Monday. “It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible.”

Nuclear concerns: A Times visual analysis found that a rocket launched from Gaza on Oct. 7 hit an Israeli military base believed to house nuclear-capable missiles, although it’s likely they were not in danger.

Sexual violence: Israel has accused Hamas of committing abuses against large numbers of women during the Oct. 7 attacks. Protesters are pushing the U.N. to condemn the violence.

Benjamin Netanyahu: The prime minister’s corruption trial resumed yesterday, bringing back into focus the legal and political challenges he faces even as he presides over the war.

Sultan Al Jaber, president of the COP28 climate talks. Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

A climate summit uproar over a remark on fossil fuels

Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati oil executive who is leading the COP28 U.N. climate talks in Dubai, defended his position on ending fossil fuel use after his previous comments set off a firestorm at the summit.

A video surfaced, taken two weeks ago, in which Al Jaber says there is “no science” behind the idea that fossil fuels must be phased out in order to keep average global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels. That’s the threshold beyond which scientists say humans would struggle to adapt to the climate.

Al Jaber suggested yesterday that he had not said what he can be heard saying on the video, and he indicated that anyone who claimed otherwise was trying to undermine his leadership of COP28. The comment, and the backlash, highlight the dilemma of hosting the climate summit in one of the world’s leading oil producers.

More from the summit: Money is a very big sticking point at this year’s event. Part of the problem is that American promises often go unmet.

People ages 20 to 34 count for a fifth of Taiwan’s population. an Rong Xu for The New York Times

Young voters propel a third party in Taiwan

As Taiwan’s presidential election approaches next month, candidates have focused on who can best handle the island’s volatile relationship with China. But many voters, especially those in their 20s and 30s, say they are weary of geopolitics and yearn for a campaign more focused on their concerns, like rising housing costs, slow income growth and narrowing career prospects.

Their disillusionment with Taiwan’s two dominant political parties has helped propel the rise of a third: the Taiwan People’s Party, an upstart that has gained traction in the polls partly by tapping into frustration over bread-and-butter issues, especially among younger people. Whom young people ultimately vote for — and how many vote at all — could be a crucial factor in deciding the presidential election on Jan. 13.

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Mount Marapi in West Sumatra Province in Indonesia yesterday. Ardhy Fernando/Associated Press

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A Morning Read

Two kiwi hatchlings recently found in the Wellington area.  Christine Stockum

The kiwi — a native bird so beloved by New Zealanders that its name is shorthand for them — vanished from the capital, Wellington, more than a century ago. But after a multiyear conservation effort, two hatchlings were born in the wild in the region — the first in living memory.

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Larry Page and Elon Musk were on opposite sides in the debate over the risks of artificial intelligence. Hokyoung Kim

The future of A.I.

The question of whether artificial intelligence will elevate the world or destroy it has framed debate among Silicon Valley founders, academics and regulators about whether the technology should be controlled or set free.

That debate has pitted some of the world’s richest men against one another, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Sam Altman of OpenAI. All have fought for a piece of the business and the power to shape it.

In the first article in a series about modern artificial intelligence, The Times explored the paradox at the heart of the A.I. competition. The people who say they are most worried about A.I. are among the most determined to create it and enjoy its riches. They have justified their ambition with their strong belief that they alone can keep A.I. from endangering Earth.

Con Poulos for The New York Times.

Cook: This creamy chicken stew is spinach-artichoke dip reimagined as a simple stovetop braise.

Listen: Our list of the best podcasts of 2023 include stalwarts like “Decoder Ring” as well as a new comedy series.

Read: A new biography of Ella Fitzgerald sheds light on her humble beginnings and her prolific, genre-defining career.

Care: Persistent depressive disorder is underdiagnosed, and many who suffer from it have never heard of it.

Play Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Jonathan

P.S. Take our weekly history quiz.

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.

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