Gaza
Israel has launched a wave of attacks on Gaza over the last two days in the latest violations of a ceasefire it agreed with Hamas last October. At least six people were killed in separate strikes on Thursday, health officials said, including four civil service employees in an attack on a finance ministry building. Thirty people were wounded in the strike, including six who are in critical condition. Israeli strikes have hit the north, south and center of the strip since Thursday, according to local media. The attacks come as Gaza’s health ministry renews calls for the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to be reopened to allow sick and wounded Palestinians to get treatment. The ministry said 21,468 patients need care outside the Palestinian enclave, including 6,430 classed as priority cases.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Proximities Picks
David Tarbox is, I think, one of the most interesting artists in the UK. He also happens to be the producer of the Proximities podcast, so it’s an understatement to say he’s a friend of the newsletter. David’s latest exhibition, Bomb The Format, opens in London on November 5th. The works on display use religious imagery to create “bombed” shrines that challenge the far right’s use of Christianity to justify hatred and racism towards migrants, highlighting how this misuse of religious symbols distorts Christianity’s core values of love, compassion and acceptance. You can find more info here and David’s Instagram here.
Myanmar
Japan is lobbying a global financial crimes watchdog to remove Myanmar from its blacklist in another sign that major nations want to bring the country, which has been in a state of civil war for more than five years, back in from the cold. Tokyo wants the Financial Action Task Force to drop requirements that its members apply enhanced screening to financial transactions with Myanmar, according to a Reuters report citing a senior Japanese government official and a person familiar with the matter. Myanmar’s military junta toppled a democratically elected government led by global figure Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a conflict that has killed an estimated 100,000 people.
More from Reuters here.
Lebanon
A military court in Lebanon has charged 13 people with crimes connected to the seizure of a truck carrying explosives belonging to Hezbollah, state media reported. The move underlines the shifting relationship between Lebanon and Hezbollah, which has been under pressure to disarm after the government declared the group’s military activities illegal following the outbreak of a conflict with Israel, during which Israeli forces have killed almost 4,000 people and occupied parts of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah did not immediately comment.
More from AP here.