DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Umm Walid Hissi sat by a cart loaded with hastily packed belongings, waiting for her home to be bombed. Until Sunday morning, she lived in Hamad Town, a collection of residential towers in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis neighborhood. But on Saturday came the missiles, pounding down like a giant fist … Read more
WASHINGTON — When Israel pounded Gaza with airstrikes after Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attack, it opened a dramatic divide among Democrats over a war that has claimed thousands of civilian lives. Progressive activists staged protests across the country, demanded an immediate ceasefire and accused President Biden of complicity in genocide. A handful of Democrats in … Read more
BAN HAET, Thailand — For 35-year-old Nutthawaree Munkan, Israel was supposed to be the coda of a long journey to pay off her debts — and to allow her family to truly begin living. Putting her young son and daughter in their grandmother’s care, Nutthawaree, a single mother, first left her home in northeastern Thailand … Read more
Since they fled northern Gaza last month, Abdullah Alathamna and more than two dozen of his relatives have lived in a cramped classroom at a school near the border with Egypt. At night, he lies down on a thin mattress alongside his wife and two young daughters. He closes his eyes, but rarely sleeps. Explosions … Read more
From his modest home office in Santa Monica this week, Loay Elbasyouni prepared to review rocket engine designs during a meeting on Blue Moon, a spacecraft that in the not-too-distant future will launch astronauts to the moon to explore the surface of its southern pole. NASA’s Artemis V mission, scheduled for 2029, is fifth in … Read more
WASHINGTON — Last week, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken headed for the Middle East to try to keep Israel’s war in Gaza from spinning out of control, and to begin talks on what diplomats call “the day after” — what happens after the shooting stops. Who will govern a shattered Gaza? Who will feed and … Read more
GAZA STRIP — Life in Gaza is a numbers game these days, where you try to calculate the odds of surviving even the most mundane tasks. Do you risk going out to find drinkable water, despite word of Israeli tanks up the road? How long can you stand in line outside a bakery before the drone … Read more
A Los Angeles city employee who was trapped in Gaza for weeks has been safely evacuated from the besieged territory, according to the mayor’s office. “Our office has been working to get him to safety and I have been in regular contact with his son. I am relieved to announce today that the employee is … Read more
WASHINGTON — Each time U.S. military and diplomatic officials asked their Israeli counterparts in recent days what the endgame was as warplanes bombarded the Gaza Strip, the Israelis said, “Not now.” The time was now to crush the Hamas militant group that made Oct. 7 the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and figure out … Read more
BEIRUT — Thirty-six hours after communications in the Gaza Strip went dead in the midst of intense Israeli airstrikes and troop movements, internet and telephone connectivity returned Sunday morning and Gazans such as poet Mosab Abu Toha reported on a new reality: For Abu Toha, it was a sense of amazement that he had survived a … Read more