Friday Briefing: Israel says Hamas fired rockets from near shelters

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story

December 8, 2023

By Jonathan Wolfe

Good morning. We’re covering the latest in the Israel-Hamas war and the E.U.-China summit.

Plus, “Oppenheimer” is coming to Japan.

A camp in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, yesterday. Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Israel accuses Hamas of firing rockets from ‘humanitarian zones’

The Israeli military posted videos and maps yesterday that it said showed Hamas had fired rockets from “humanitarian zones” in southern Gaza, adding to concerns that nowhere in the enclave was safe for civilians.

The military said that Hamas militants fired 14 rockets from locations that included Al-Mawasi, a barren area in Rafah that was crowded with fleeing Gazans, and that the rockets were launched “from near tents of evacuated Gazan civilians” and from “next to United Nations facilities.” The material and Israel’s account of it could not immediately be verified.

Here’s the latest.

It was not clear whether Israel would now regard the area as a legitimate military target. But the Israeli claims about Al-Mawasi underscored the risks of so-called safe zones in Gaza, which the U.N. has opposed on the grounds that no one party to a war can unilaterally declare places completely safe for civilians.

Al-Mawasi and the surrounding Rafah area are among the few remaining places Israel’s military has told displaced Gazans they can seek safety as it mounts an offensive in southern Gaza.

Mass migration: Nearly 1.9 million people, or about 85 percent of the total population of Gaza, have fled their homes during the two months of war, according to the U.N.

A journalist’s death: Human Rights Watch said a strike on Oct. 13 that killed a videographer for the Reuters news agency in southern Lebanon was carried out by the Israeli military and appeared to be a deliberate attack.

How Israel targets Hamas: Israel has recovered a trove of material that its military has used to assess the extent of the group’s attack plans and tactics, information reviewed by The Times shows.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, hosted the summit with Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. Huang Jingwen/Xinhua, via Associated Press

E.U. leaders press Xi on Russia and trade

Leaders from the European Union and China met yesterday in Beijing for their first in-person summit in more than four years. As expected, the talks did not result in any significant breakthroughs.

E.U. leaders pressed China on the country’s trade imbalance with Europe and its alignment with Russia.

No issue has frustrated European officials more than Beijing’s refusal to curtail its support for Moscow. The European leaders urged China to use its influence over Russia to end the war in Ukraine and make the country withdraw its troops. But China is highly unlikely to abandon Russia, calculating that it needs Moscow as a partner to counter the U.S.

Trade: The European market recorded a $426 billion trade deficit with China last year, its biggest ever. China has dismissed many of Europe’s complaints about the imbalance, saying a significant portion of Chinese exports to Europe are from European-owned companies based in China.

Ukrainian soldiers firing a howitzer in the Kharkiv region on Wednesday. David Guttenfelder for The New York Times

Ukraine is preparing for an erosion of U.S. aid

Ukrainian officials are still hopeful that the U.S. Congress will ultimately pass an assistance package. But given the dire consequences if the U.S. does not, officials in Kyiv are racing to bolster their nation’s own military capabilities and working to deepen ties with other allies.

Germany, for example, announced last month that it would send four more state-of-the-art air defense systems to Ukraine in 2025, in addition to the three it had already delivered. Still, across the front, Ukrainians are having to make difficult decisions about how best to distribute resources that have dropped sharply over the last several months.

ADVERTISEMENT

Asia Pacific

Around the World

Other Big Stories

A Morning Read

Michelle Yeoh in Cannes, France, in May. Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

The Times’s Styles desk recognized the 71 most stylish “people” of the year. Certain people might surprise you or inspire heated debate. After all, one thing they have in common is they made us talk: about what we wear, how we live and how we express ourselves.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

“Oppenheimer” has grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide, but the film has not yet been screened in Japan. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

‘Oppenheimer’ is coming to Japan

Many in Japan took offense to the Barbenheimer memes that followed the simultaneous release this summer of “Oppenheimer,” the biopic about the creation of the atomic bomb, and “Barbie,” a tale of a doll’s awakening.

Critics said the cross-promotion of “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” trivialized the horrors of the U.S. military’s nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The backlash led to an apology from Warner Bros. and speculation about whether the film would be released in Japan.

But yesterday, a local distributor announced that it would be releasing “Oppenheimer” in Japan in 2024. The distributor said that it was aware that the film’s “subject matter has a very important and special meaning for us Japanese people,” and that it believed the film should be seen in cinemas.

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Cook: This spiced vegetable phyllo pie makes enough to feed a crowd.

Read: “Into Siberia” traces George Kennan’s long-forgotten trip to Russia in 1885.

Groove: The year’s best jazz albums were made by artists pushing beyond borders.

Exercise: Wirecutter recommends these five gym bags for a range of gym goers and situations.

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

That’s it for today’s briefing. Have a great weekend. Whet Moser will be here on Monday. — Jonathan

P.S. Hamed Aleaziz is joining The Times to cover immigration and the Department of Homeland Security.

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

ADVERTISEMENT

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request.

Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app

Connect with us on:

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018