Heavy Fighting Imperils Gaza’s Beleaguered Hospitals

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at heavy fighting impacting hospitals in Gaza, upcoming high-level diplomatic talks at APEC, and shrinking deforestation rates in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

 Hospitals in Peril

Gaza’s already beleaguered hospital system—overcrowded and short on fresh water, fuel, medical supplies, and anesthetics—faced even more dire circumstances on Friday as several facilities in Gaza City came under siege amid intense battles between Israeli forces and Hamas militants.

Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, weathered an explosion on Friday, while several other hospitals were reportedly surrounded by Israeli tanks and heavy fighting. As many as 50,000 people may be sheltering in Al-Shifa, which is “coming under bombardment,” the World Health Organization said. Thousands of people fled the hospital in the wake of Friday’s violence, deepening concerns of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israeli officials, who have accused of Hamas of operating a major command center beneath Al-Shifa, say they plan to take “every precaution possible” and ordered hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate last month—although doctors and administrators say it is “impossible” to do that safely. “Israel is now launching a war on Gaza City hospitals,” Mohammad Abu Selmeyah, the director of Al-Shifa, told Reuters.

Israel agreed this week to allow daily four-hour humanitarian pauses in fighting to allow Palestinians in northern Gaza, where the fighting is heaviest, to evacuate to the southern part of the territory. However, Israel has continued to bomb areas in the south as well.

Friday’s escalation in fighting comes as top Biden administration officials deliver some of their sharpest statements on the growing death toll in Gaza, which exceeds 11,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The conflict has also seen more than 100 United Nations employees killed, according to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency.

“Much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday. “Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks.” Yet U.S. officials continue to oppose calling for a cease-fire and have said U.S. President Joe Biden has not yet established any red lines for Israel.

• The World Won’t Be the Same After the Israel-Hamas War by Stephen M. Walt
• Are Ethiopia and Eritrea on the Path to War? by Mohamed Kheir Omer
• The U.S. Is Preparing an Outsourced Invasion of Haiti by Jonathan M. Katz

APEC kicks off. World leaders are set to descend on San Francisco this weekend for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, which begin Saturday and run through next Friday. Amid scheduled discussions on trade and investment, all eyes will be on expected talks between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who are meeting in a bid to stabilize ties.

But both leaders will likely have different diplomatic priorities. While Xi will probably focus on China’s economic challenges, FP’s James Palmer wrote in this week’s China Brief, Biden cares more about security issues. “U.S. diplomats fear that a more confrontational attitude toward China, including breaking off some channels due to tensions over Taiwan, could lead to a clash neither side wants,” he wrote.

The search for Portugal’s next leader. Just days after Prime Minister António Costa stepped down amid a major corruption scandal, lawmakers are scrambling to find his successor. On Thursday, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called for an early election on March 10 and announced that he would disband the country’s parliament.

Costa resigned on Tuesday after a police raid over corruption charges that resulted in an arrest warrant for his chief of staff, among other individuals. Though Costa himself was not the target of an arrest warrant, he said he would step down from his position. “I believe that the dignity of the office of the prime minister is not compatible with any suspicion about your integrity, your good conduct, and even less with the practical suspicion of any criminal act,” he said. “Therefore, in these circumstances, obviously, I presented my resignation.”

Brazil cuts down on deforestation. In a victory for environmental protection efforts, deforestation rates in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest reached a five-year low between August 2022 and July 2023, according to the country’s National Institute of Space Research. The deforestation rate in those 12 months marks a 22.3 percent decrease from levels recorded a year before.

About 3,000 migrants blocked traffic on a major Mexican highway on Wednesday to demand what?

A. Transportation assistance across Mexico
B. No violence against migrants
C. Action against traffickers along the U.S. border
D. Transit or exit visas to the U.S. border

This year’s Grammy nominees include international popstar Taylor Swift, heavy metal band Metallica, and…Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The world leader’s voice was featured in Falu and Gaurav Shah’s Abundance in Millets, a song about the ancient grain’s role in ending global hunger. The song earned a nomination for best global music performance, a category that pits Modi against stars such as Burna Boy and Davido. No word yet on whether he plans to attend February’s award ceremony in Los Angeles, though.

D. Transit or exit visas to the U.S. border

Some U.S. politicians have advocated invading Mexico to stamp out drug cartels and slow immigration. Antonio De Loera-Brust recently debunked such a policy proposal, calling it “counterproductive, harmful, and just plain dumb.”

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