Morning Briefing: Oct. 25, 2023

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) – Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including Israel’s attacks in West Bank, clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, striking down of military infrastructure in Syria, and rejection of fuel demand for Gazans.

TOP STORIES

• 4 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on Jenin refugee camp

At least four Palestinians were killed and several injured early Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the official Palestine TV said.

Israeli forces stormed the camp and deployed snipers on the rooftops of a number of homes and buildings, which led to the outbreak of clashes, said eyewitnesses.

Almost 100 Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank since Oct. 7, when a fighting erupted between Palestinian groups and Israel.

Earlier, the Israeli army carried out several raids across the occupied West Bank to arrest Palestinians.

• Tension mounts in southern Lebanon as death toll of Hezbollah members tops 37

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group announced Wednesday that three more of its members were killed in clashes with the Israeli army.

The latest fatalities pushed the death toll of the group to 37.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Israeli jets carried out airstrikes on a number of areas in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has been engaged in clashes with Israeli forces along Lebanon’s southern border since Oct. 8, after Israel commenced bombardment and announced a blockade when the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack.

• Military infrastructure in Syria targeted by Israeli forces

The Israeli army said early Wednesday that it struck military infrastructure in Syria.

The army said its fighter jets also targeted mortar launch sites in Syrian territory, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

The attack came "in response to the firing of mortar shells towards Israel last night,” it said.

The Lebanese Al-Manar channel, which is close to the Syrian government, said “an Israeli aggression targeted two military sites of the Syrian Arab Army in the central countryside of Daraa.”

• UN’s demand for fuel into Gaza rejected by Israel

The Israeli army rejected demands from a UN agency Tuesday to allow fuel into the blockaded Gaza Strip amid relentless airstrikes on the Palestinian territory.

“Fuel will not enter the Gaza Strip. Hamas needs it for its operational infrastructure,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in statements cited by Haaretz newspaper.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned earlier Tuesday that operations would stop in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday if fuel shipments were not allowed into the enclave.

“Gaza operation will end tomorrow if we don’t get fuel,” said UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

NEWS IN BRIEF

• US and coalition forces have been attacked at least 10 separate times in Iraq and three times in Syria between Oct. 17-24, the “inherent right of self-defense.”

• International community is failing in the face of Israel’s lawless and indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

• Israel and its allies are responsible for what is happening in the Gaza Strip, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Ramallah as he demanded a cease-fire and the opening of humanitarian corridors.

• The healthcare system at hospitals in the Gaza Strip has “totally collapsed” due to the Israeli war, the Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a news conference in Gaza City.

• China’s President Xi Jinping on Tuesday sacked the country’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who has not been seen in public since early September, Beijing-based daily Global Times reported.

• Liberia’s presidential election will head to a second round in which incumbent George Weah will face his rival Joseph Boakai, the country’s electoral commission said after announcing the final results of Oct. 10 polls.

• Türkiye’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz asserted Tuesday that there can be no justification for the “collective punishment” of Palestinian civilians by Israel in Gaza during a UN Security Council session.

• Israel has dropped more than 12,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, equivalent to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan in 1945, the media office in the Palestinian enclave said.

SPORTS

• Manchester United secure 1-0 win over Copenhagen

Manchester United took their first points in the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League campaign after a 1-0 win over Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen’s cross from the right flank connected with Harry Maguire in the area and the English central defender scored the winner with a header in the 72nd minute at Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium.

• Israeli basketball club to play EuroLeague home games in Serbia

Israeli basketball club Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv will play their Turkish Airlines EuroLeague home games in Serbia, organizers said Tuesday.

“This decision has been taken considering the impossible nature of hosting games in Tel Aviv due to security concerns derived from the ongoing armed conflict in the area,” it added.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY​​​​​​​

• Chinese overseas investments to increase amid geopolitical risk: Fitch

Chinese manufacturers’ investments in production facilities overseas are likely to continue to increase amid rising trade barriers and geopolitical risk, Fitch Ratings said Tuesday.

“A growing number of high-tech Chinese manufacturers have been decentralising their supply chains from China to other countries since 2018 to avoid US tariffs and to hedge against rising geopolitical tensions,” the global rating agency said in a statement.

• US-China group on economy holds ‘constructive’ talks

The US-China working group on economy held its first meeting on Tuesday, Beijing said.

Top officials from China’s Commerce Ministry and the US Treasury Department attended the meeting held online.

Discussions revolved around the macroeconomic situations and policies of the two countries and the world, bilateral economic relations, and cooperation in addressing global challenges, Chinese state-run Xinhua News reported.