Harvard Resignation, Hamas Leader Killed, and Sinking Cities

Gay Resigns

Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned yesterday, stepping down amid mounting claims of plagiarism and criticism over recent congressional testimony on campus antisemitism. It marks the shortest presidential tenure in the university's history. 

Public scrutiny of Gay began after she joined a Dec. 5 House panel, providing testimony in which she appeared to equivocate on the question of whether extreme antisemitism violated the student code of conduct (see clip). Following the testimony, allegations Gay copied from other scholars in both her thesis and scholarly articles emerged (they had reportedly been brought to Harvard's attention prior to the congressional panel). 

The university board backed Gay following the testimony and the initial claims of plagiarism, with an independent probe finding she used duplicative language but did not commit serious misconduct. Her resignation came after another round of allegations was published late Monday in the Washington Free Beacon. 

Gay is the second of the three witnesses from the Dec. 5 hearing to leave her post, following University of Pennsylvania's Liz Magill. 

Hamas Cofounder Killed

Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas’ political leader in the West Bank and a founder of its military wing, was killed in an explosion outside Beirut in Lebanon Tuesday alongside two senior commanders, an assassination reportedly carried out by Israel. The attack marks the first such killing of a Hamas leader outside the Palestinian territories since the start of the war. 

The attack comes as Israel has begun reducing troop levels in the Gaza Strip, where it has battled Hamas’ military wing—aligned with, but distinct from, its Qatar-based political counterpart (see explainer)—since the militant group launched a surprise attack in southern Israel Oct. 7. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently indicated Israel would target Hamas leaders located around the region. 

Israel Defense Forces also claimed to have captured Hamas’ headquarters in Gaza City yesterday. An estimated 80% of the northern city’s structures have been damaged since the start of the war, while over 22,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. See war updates here (w/maps).

Tokyo Collision 

Five crew members on a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft were killed after it collided with a passenger plane yesterday that was landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. All 379 passengers and crew onboard Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 from Shin Chitose Airport near Sapporo were evacuated safely before the plane was engulfed in flames; the other plane's pilot survived with injuries.

The accident marked the first significant damage to an Airbus A350 since its introduction in 2015. It is also the first serious commercial aviation accident in Japan since 1985, when an aircraft flying from Tokyo to Osaka crashed, killing 520 passengers and crew. The Coast Guard surveillance prop plane was scheduled for a relief mission to the Noto Peninsula, where at least 48 people have died due to the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit New Year’s Day.

See video of the incident here (warning—sensitive content). Officials say investigations are ongoing, including communication between the flights and air traffic control.

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