Tuesday Briefing: Israel orders Rafah evacuations

May 7, 2024

	By Amelia Nierenberg

Good morning. We’re covering an Israeli order to evacuate Rafah and Russian plans for nuclear military drills.

Plus, the rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

People sit in the back of a truck as they begin evacuating from the Gazan city of Rafa.

Palestinians evacuating after the Israeli military warned people to leave eastern Rafah. Doaa Al Baz/Reuters

Israel ordered a partial evacuation of Rafah

Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, yesterday, as the military told about 110,000 people there to evacuate. Hours later, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said that the group had accepted a cease-fire proposal from Qatar and Egypt.

The full details of the proposal were unclear, but the conflict remains unresolved. Comments by Hamas and Israeli officials made it clear that Haniyeh was not referring to the plan that Israel had recently put forward.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the proposal did not meet Israel’s demands. Israel’s war cabinet had also decided unanimously to “continue with its action in Rafah in order to exert military pressure on Hamas,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Thousands of people were leaving Rafah yesterday, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which said that there had been “escalating Israeli airstrikes” in areas east of the city. A sense of panic coursed through the city, as prices for food and fuel skyrocketed.

Context: Israel seems set to invade Rafah, despite pressure from the country’s closest allies, including the U.S., arguing that doing so would take a heavy toll on civilians. An Israeli military spokesman would not say when troops might enter the city, but described the evacuation as part of Israel’s plans to dismantle Hamas and to free hostages taken on Oct. 7.

U.S. campus protests: Columbia University canceled its main commencement ceremony after weeks of student protests over the war.

An aerial view of a ruined village. Smoke is rising from a house that is on fire.

A ruined village near Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Russia said it would hold tactical nuclear weapon drills

Russia said that it would hold military exercises with troops near Ukraine to practice for the possible use of battlefield nuclear weapons. The move increases tensions with the West and was Russia’s most explicit warning that it could use such weapons in Ukraine. NATO called the announcement “irresponsible.”

Russian officials claimed the exercises were in response to comments from the West. The Kremlin’s spokesman directly referenced a recent interview with President Emmanuel Macron of France, in which he repeated his refusal to rule out the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine, and alluded to comments made by the British foreign minister.

Details: These nuclear weapons, often referred to as “tactical,” are designed for battlefield use and have smaller warheads than the ones meant to target cities.

Four people walking -- a woman in a red dress is holding the arm of a man in a suit. He is gesturing to another man in a suit, walking with a woman in white.

President Emmanuel Macron of France spoke with President Xi Jinping of China in Paris yesterday. Pool photo by Yoan Valat

E.U. leader’s tough line on Ukraine with Xi Jinping

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, pressured China to help resolve the war in Ukraine yesterday during President Xi Jinping’s visit to France. She said Beijing should “use all its influence on Russia to end its war of aggression” and said Xi had played “an important role in de-escalating Russia’s irresponsible nuclear threats.”

Trade: China’s manufacturing boom and flagging domestic demand also came up. Tensions are rising in Europe over a massive export push from China, and von der Leyen took a firm line, saying, “The world cannot absorb China’s surplus production.”

MORE TOP NEWS

Photographers taking photos of Donald Trump in a courtroom.

An employee testified at Donald Trump’s trial that he had used his personal bank account to reimburse his longtime fixer. Pool photo by Steven Hirsch

Donald Trump: The judge fined the former president another $1,000 for violating a gag order and again threatened to jail him.
Italy: Five workers died after inhaling a hazardous gas while working at a water treatment plant in Sicily.
Panama: José Raúl Mulino, a former public security minister, was elected to be the country’s next president.
Mexico: Three bodies were identified as those of three missing tourists from Australia and the U.S., the authorities said.
Qantas: Australia’s national airline apologized and agreed to pay $79 million for selling thousands of tickets to flights that it had already canceled.
U.S.: Chinese residents in Florida expressed frustration with a new law that prohibits many Chinese citizens from buying homes in the state.

Health

Sickle cell: A 12-year-old boy became the first person with the disease to begin a commercially approved gene therapy that could cure the condition.
Alzheimer’s: A study has proposed that the disease might have a genetic cause for some people, which could broaden the scope of efforts to develop treatments.
Olympics: Paris committed to making the Summer Games more accessible for people with disabilities. Advocacy groups say that the city is still unprepared.

MORNING READ

Two men in red jerseys grapple over a soccer ball on a field covered in snow.

Players come to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York City every week — no matter the weather. Raúl Vilchis for The New York Times

Generations of immigrants to New York City have played soccer on Sundays at a park in Queens. Teams are loosely organized around national identity, and the community that has grown around the fields offers a sense of home.

“We are new in this city and it helps to share our experiences with others,” a 36-year-old who recently arrived from Venezuela said. “Sometimes people come just to talk.”

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Golden years: Retired couples have time, money and leisure. They are also driving each other crazy.
Repatriation: In the 19th century, Belgian troops decapitated a leader from Congo — and took his skull as a trophy. His descendants are struggling to have his remains returned.
A Hollywood staple: “The Sympathizer,” a new series from HBO, isn’t just a good story. It’s also a sharp piece of criticism, a kind of counteroffensive on Vietnam War films.

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

ARTS AND IDEAS

Kendrick Lamar dressed in an orange suite and Drake dressed in a white t-shirt and black jacket and pants.

Kendrick Lamar, left, and Drake. Left, Yuki Iwamura/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

Kendrick vs. Drake

The long-building rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has exploded into acrimony and unverifiable accusations.

Over the weekend, the two rappers released song after song, attacking each other over race, appropriation, sexual and physical abuse, body image, misogyny, hypocrisy, generational trauma and more.

The beef may be good for business. Each song racked up millions of streams. Three that Lamar made available are expected to land near the top of next week’s Billboard singles chart.

In case you missed the action, here’s a primer on the battle.

RECOMMENDATIONS

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Cook: Miso-chile asparagus with tofu is a deeply flavored meal that can be ready in minutes.

Mix: Some restaurants are making mocktails for kids.

Read: The novelist Mona Awad recommends several books to take you through Montreal.

Watch: The Met Gala begins soon. Follow our live coverage. We’ll have updates tomorrow but, for now, here’s a guide to the event.

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

P.S. The Times won three Pulitzer Prizes, including one for our coverage of the war in Gaza.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Amelia

Email us at briefing@nytimes.com.

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