Morning Briefing: Oct. 9, 2024

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, the latest developments on Israeli assault on Lebanon, Israel's evacuation orders for 3 hospitals in northern Gaza, and UN chief speaking about "the nightmare" in Gaza.

TOP STORIES

• Death toll from yearlong Israeli assaults on Lebanon surpasses 2,000
  
  The Lebanese Health Ministry announced Wednesday that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 2,119, with another 10,019 injured since Oct. 8, 2023. The ministry said in a statement that during the past 24 hours 36 people were killed and 150 others injured.
  
  In a separate statement, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin stated: “During the past 24 hours, 137 airstrikes were recorded, bringing the total number of attacks since the beginning of the aggression to 9,400."
  
  Yassin added: "990 centers have been opened to accommodate displaced people, of which 781 centers have reached their maximum capacity, with 181,700 displaced individuals registered in the shelters.”

• Israel orders 3 hospitals to be evacuated in northern Gaza: Health Ministry
  
  The Israeli army ordered the evacuation of patients and staff at three hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, the enclave’s Health Ministry said Tuesday.
  
  Israel “demands the evacuation of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, and Al-Awda Hospital from patients and health personnel,” it said in a statement.
  
  Israeli troops arrested "a paramedic who accompanied a critical care patient during their transfer from Kamal Adwan Hospital despite prior coordination,” according to the statement, that noted the army is besieging the Kamal Adwan Hospital and firing at its administrative headquarters.
  
  The army threatened the hospitals with "destruction, killing, and arrest" if they did not evacuate, similar to what happened at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City which has been besieged for weeks at a time since last November, it added.

• 'Nightmare in Gaza is now entering atrocious, abominable second year': UN chief
  
  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern Tuesday for the escalating humanitarian and political crises in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon as he condemned violations of international law.
  
  "The nightmare in Gaza is now entering an atrocious, abominable second year. This has been a year of crises. Humanitarian crisis. Political crisis. Diplomatic crisis. And a moral crisis," Guterres said at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.
  
  The Gaza Strip "has become ground zero to a level of human suffering that is hard to fathom," he said and noted that more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority of them women and children, with thousands more missing and believed to be trapped under the rubble.
  
  "I strongly condemn all violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza," he said.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was impeached following a decisive vote in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
  
  
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Tuesday evening that Israel killed Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor to assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, without directly naming him.
  
  
• At least seven civilians, including children and women, were killed, and 11 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus, according to Syrian state media.
  
  
• Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said that the Zionist lobby has an influence on some of the world's leading universities.
  
  
• Armenia will participate in the protection of the country’s border with neighboring Türkiye and Iran as of next year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
  
  
• EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday stressed the urgent need for a cease-fire in Lebanon, highlighting that 20% of the population has been displaced due to intensified bombings by Israel and escalating conflict across the region.
  
  
• At least 56 more Palestinians were killed in relentless Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 41,965, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Tuesday.
  
  
• The Israeli army said Tuesday that at least 48 soldiers were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in the last 24 hours.
  
  
• The Lebanese group Hezbollah said Tuesday that its fighters pushed away Israeli ground forces attempting to infiltrate into the border town of Al-Labouneh in southern Lebanon.
  
  
• The 2024 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton for "foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Tuesday.

SPORTS

• Former NBA player Hidayet Turkoglu re-elected as Turkish basketball body chief

Ex-NBA player Hidayet Turkoglu was re-elected as president of the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) on Tuesday.

Turkoglu, who played in the NBA from 2000 to 2015, received the majority of the votes in the general assembly in Ankara to keep his position.

Turkoglu, 45, a former Orlando Magic forward, received 133 votes out of 165 to beat his opponent, Efe Aydan, who is also a former basketball player. It will be his third stint at the TBF.

• Over 500 athletes killed by Israeli offensive in Gaza

Since Israel's assault on Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 500 athletes, referees, and sports officials have been killed, including nearly 300 football players, many of whom were children and members of sports academies.

Local health authorities report that the death toll has reached nearly 42,000, with most of the victims being women and children, while over 97,100 others have been injured.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• US runs foreign trade deficit of $70.4B in August

The US international trade deficit was at $70.4 billion in August, decreasing by $8.5 billion or 10.8% from July, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed on Tuesday.

The country's exports totaled $271.8 billion in August, going up 2% month-on-month, the bureau stated in a statement.

Meanwhile, the US imports amounted to $342.2 billion in the month, down by 0.9% on a monthly basis.

• Emirates suspends flights to Iraq, Iran, Lebanon

UAE-based air carrier Emirates canceled its flights from and to Baghdad, Basra, Tehran and Beirut.

According to a travel update from the carrier, the cancelations will end on Oct. 16 for Iraq and Iran and on Oct. 15 for Beirut.

Previously, several airlines took similar steps for the region, where geopolitical tensions are on the rise.

Many airlines also suspended flights to and from the Israeli capital Tel Aviv.