Israel-Hamas War

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at deteriorating U.N.-Israeli relations as aid operations risk closing in Gaza, a new national security law in Hong Kong, and Mexico’s devastating Pacific hurricane.

The United Nations warned on Wednesday that it would be forced to halt aid operations across Gaza within a day due to a lack of fuel. According to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, nearly 106,000 gallons of fuel (or roughly two and a half days’ worth of supplies) are ready for transport into Gaza from Egypt’s Rafah border crossing. However, Israel and Egypt have blocked all fuel deliveries as part of their initial agreement allowing only certain types of aid into southern Gaza, saying Hamas would steal the fuel supplies for its war infrastructure. The Israel Defense Forces instead told U.N. officials on Tuesday to ask Hamas for the necessary fuel.

Since Saturday, dozens of aid trucks carrying food, water, and medical supplies have entered Gaza through Rafah’s gates, but that assistance is just a “drop of aid in an ocean of need,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said. To address the Gaza Strip’s spiraling humanitarian crisis, Guterres on Tuesday called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. The World Health Organization reiterated that plea.

However, Israel has rejected such calls. “How can you agree to a cease-fire with someone who swore to kill and destroy your own existence?” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen asked. He argued that the only proportional response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack would be the militant group’s “total destruction.”

Guterres condemned Hamas’s attack but acknowledged that Palestinian anger toward Israeli rule did not emerge in a vacuum. It came from “56 years of suffocating occupation” exacerbated by a 16-year blockade of Gaza. The U.N. chief’s remarks sparked uproar among Israel’s top ranks. Cohen canceled his meeting with Guterres, and Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., demanded that Guterres resign over his comments, saying Israel would now reevaluate its relationship with the international organization. Beginning Wednesday, Israel began blocking visas for U.N. officials, starting with U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Israel has agreed to delay its expected ground invasion of Gaza at the request of the United States so the U.S. Defense Department can send additional air defenses to the region to bolster protection of U.S. troops deployed in Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In a televised statement on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was still preparing to undertake a ground invasion. “I won’t specify when, how, how many. I also won’t detail the range of considerations” in order to protect soldiers’ lives, he said.

• The Best Books for Understanding the Israel-Hamas War by FP Staff and Contributors
• After Hamas Attacks, Terror Threats Are on the Rise by Lynne O’Donnell
• Why Erdogan Is Unlikely to Cut Ties With Hamas by Sinan Ciddi

Following in Beijing’s footsteps. China is preparing to table its infamous 2020 national security law after Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Wednesday that the city would propose its own version in 2024. Known as Article 23, the bill would combat so-called security crimes, such as espionage and treason. This year alone, the city’s security bureau arrested 280 people under Beijing’s national security law and convicted 30 of them.

According to Lee, creating Hong Kong’s own variation of China’s security restrictions would revitalize the city’s economy and spur population growth. It would also protect its citizens from “external forces” seeking to undermine Hong Kong’s authority. Lee did not specify whom those forces were or how they were meddling in the city’s affairs, but such accusations have been leveled at the United States by Hong Kong and Chinese officials in the past, often to discredit legitimate, grassroots pro-democracy activism in Hong Kong.

For years, Hong Kong officials have failed to implement Article 23, with half a million residents protesting the last attempt in 2003. But China’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019, efforts to bolster mainland patriotism, and other authoritarian security laws have decimated the city’s democratic practices.

“Nightmare scenario.” A Category 5 hurricane, which forecasters had warned was quickly developing into a “nightmare scenario” as it approached land, struck Mexico on Wednesday. Hurricane Otis made landfall near Acapulco along Mexico’s Pacific coast, rapidly escalating from a tropical storm to the most severe hurricane rating possible before tapering off as it moved inland.

The extent of the damage is currently unknown. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said early Wednesday that his government had no reports of deaths but that all communication systems in the area were down, including ones used by emergency crews on the ground. He said they did have reports of material damage and blocked roads, including landslides blocking the highway to Acapulco. López Obrador added that rescue crews were continuing to try to gain access to the area to assess the damage and help those affected.

Transgender rights victory. Japan’s Supreme Court ruled against a law requiring people to undergo reproductive surgery, including forced sterilization, to officially change their gender. The court’s 15 justices found that forced surgery violates Japan’s constitution because it “constitutes a significant constraint on freedom from invasive procedures.”

The high court’s decision marks a major milestone for LGBTQ rights in Japan after the law, implemented in 2003, was first contested in 2017. Among the ruling’s other provisions, transgender individuals no longer have to receive a diagnosis of “gender identity disorder” and can change their listed gender on family registries and other government documents.

Australia celebrated its most iconic structure last Friday with some anxiety-provoking financial revelations. The Sydney Opera House, now open for 50 years, was set to take only four years to build and cost $7 million to make. But 14 years later, the flower-shaped venue had exceeded its budget by 1,300 percent. Thank Australia’s State Lottery for footing most of the bill.