Morning Briefing: Nov. 7, 2023

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Tuesday with, including the Israel-Palestine conflict entering its second month with thousands of lives lost, a meeting between US secretary of state and Turkish foreign minister in Ankara, and the withdrawal of South African diplomats from Israel.

TOP STORIES

• Israel-Palestine conflict enters second month as death toll in Gaza exceeds 10,000

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in war on Gaza has exceeded 10,000, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday.

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Health Ministry, said at a news conference that the Israeli army killed 10,022 people and injured more than 25,000.

The death toll includes 4,104 children and 2,641 women. About 2,350 people are still under the rubble, he added.

On Monday, Israeli warplanes targeted three adjacent hospitals in the Gaza City, including an eye hospital, a psychiatric hospital and Al-Rantisi Children Hospital.

• Türkiye, US agree on uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Türkiye and the US on Monday agreed on ensuring uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to conflict-torn Gaza, Turkish diplomatic sources said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Ankara to discuss the ongoing developments in the besieged enclave, as well as bilateral relations.

There was no official statement after the meeting, but according to the sources, Fidan emphasized to his US counterpart the necessity of preventing Israel from targeting civilians, displacing people in Gaza, and an immediate cease-fire.

• South Africa recalls diplomats from Israel over war on Gaza

South Africa announced Monday it is withdrawing all its diplomats from Tel Aviv for consultation over Israel’s war on Gaza.

“A genocide under the watch of the international community cannot be tolerated. Another holocaust in the history of human kind is not acceptable,” Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in the president’s office, told reporters.

Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told a media briefing her ministry will get a full briefing from diplomats recalled from Tel Aviv so they can decide if the existing relations between the two countries can be sustained.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• A 19-year-old Palestinian was killed and another man wounded early Tuesday when Israeli forces opened fire in Beit Anan in the occupied West Bank.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over "clear violations" of international law in Gaza. He told reporters that the UN and its partners were launching a $1.2 billion appeal to help Palestinians.

• The armed wing of Hamas in Lebanon on Monday said it fired a barrage of rockets towards Israeli targets. In a statement, it said it struck Israeli settlements with 16 rockets.

• Israeli attacks have killed a Palestinian child every 10 minutes on average over the past month in Gaza, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said on Monday.

• The Russian foreign minister on Monday said the West is pushing the Middle East region to the brink of a “big war,” leading to a surge in terrorism and refugee flows.

• Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials over the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.

• China on Monday called on the international community to stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters that disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza is calling out to human conscience.

• At least 36 journalists and media workers have been killed since the outbreak of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Monday.

• British Jews held a community vigil Monday in London to mourn those killed since Oct. 7 across Israel and Palestine, as they recited prayers and shared testimonies to remember the victims.

SPORTS

• Hakan Calhanoglu fires Inter Milan over Atalanta

Inter Milan went two points clear at the top of the Serie A, thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez at Atalanta.

After the latest matches in the top five European leagues over the weekend, Inter Milan, Girona, Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, and Nice are leading in their respective leagues.

Playing at Gewiss Stadium, Calhanoglu converted a penalty kick in the 40th minute to a goal and Lautaro Martinez scored another for Nerazzurri.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Turkish exports hit all-time high for October

Türkiye’s exports increased 7.4% year-on-year to $22.9 billion, an all-time high for October, the trade minister announced on Monday.

Turkish imports increased 1.3% from last year to $29.6 billion in October, Omer Bolat said at a news conference on Türkiye's preliminary foreign trade data.

"Thus, the country's foreign trade gap shrank 15% to $6.7 billion in October," Bolat noted.

• OpenAI reveals GPT-4 Turbo, its most powerful artificial intelligence

US-based artificial intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI on Monday introduced GPT-4 Turbo, its most powerful AI to date.

GPT-4 Turbo possesses knowledge of world events up to April 2023, featuring a 128k context window, enabling it to accommodate the equivalent of more than 300 pages of text in a single prompt, the company said in a blog post.​​​​​​​