Primi jet F-16 in arrivo in Ucraina, ulteriori aiuti sono in programma 🗞️ Rassegna del 11/07/2024

Israele

(New York Times) Deadly Israeli Strike at School-Turned-Shelter Shatters a Moment of Cheer

• Video shared by Al Jazeera and verified by The New York Times recorded the instant an Israeli airstrike hit outside the school-turned-shelter on Tuesday night, killing at least 27 Palestinians, according to Gazan authorities.
• The Israeli military said that the strike targeted a Hamas member who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that ignited the war. It did not release details on the identity of the Hamas member or whether the person had been killed. The military said it was “looking into reports that civilians were harmed.”
• The strike was the fourth in four days that hit or damaged a school building in Gaza, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, the U.N. agency that helps Palestinians, wrote on social media Wednesday.
• Most of those injured or killed in the strike on Tuesday were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in ambulances, private vehicles and donkey carts. Dr. Mohammed Saqer, director general of nursing at Nasser, said in a phone interview on Wednesday that 56 people had been wounded, most of them were children and women. “And unfortunately nearly 10 cases of amputation among them; hands and feet completely blown off.”

(Al Jazeera) Has famine arrived in Gaza? UN experts say it has

• “Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza,” 10 independent UN experts, including the special rapporteur on the right to food and the special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement on Tuesday.
• They accused Israel of fomenting conditions which have led to starvation in Gaza and have called for an end to Israel’s near-10-month bombardment of the besieged enclave.
• A region determined to be suffering from famine is assigned a score of “IPC Phase 5”, the highest phase of the IPC’s Acute Food Insecurity scale. Three conditions must exist to determine there is famine:
  • At least 20 percent of the population in the area faces extreme levels of hunger;
  • 30 percent of the children in the area are too thin for their height; and
  • The death rate has doubled from the average, surpassing two deaths per 10,000 daily for adults and four deaths per 10,000 daily for children
• Rapporto di marzo 2024
  • According to the most likely scenario, both North Gaza and Gaza Governorates are classified in IPC Phase 5 (Famine) with reasonable evidence, with 70% (around 210,000 people) of the population in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe). 
  • The southern governorates of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, and the Governorate of Rafah, are classified in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency). However, in a worst-case scenario, these governorates face a risk of Famine through July 2024.

Ucraina

(The Guardian) First F-16 jets heading to Ukraine after months of training and negotiations

• Dick Schoof, the prime minister of the Netherlands, and Mette Frederiksen, his counterpart from Denmark, said the “transfer process” of F-16s to Kyiv was under way after months of pilot training and political negotiations.
• An announcement on F-16s had been expected at the same time as the summit, and the hope is that the fighters will be able to stifle Russian glide bomb attacks launched from warplanes operating up to 43 miles (70km) away that have been devastating frontline positions.
• Zelenskyy said he was grateful to Denmark, the Netherlands and the US for taking what he described as practical steps of assistance – and indicated that he was hopeful of more donations to boost numbers to a target of 130.
• Norway and Belgium have also committed to supplying F-16s in the future, but Zelenskyy went further and said: “I anticipate that our air force capability coalition will be strengthened even further through the joining of new participants.”

(The Kyiv Independent) US, NATO allies to deliver 'dozens' of air defense systems in coming months, including 4 Patriots

• The U.S. and at least nine other NATO allies have agreed to send "dozens" of air defense systems in the coming months to Ukraine, including at least four Patriot batteries, according to a joint agreement issued on July 9. The announcement comes at the start of the NATO summit in Washington, with the war in Ukraine expected to dominate the summit's proceedings.
• According to the statement issued by the White House, the U.S., Germany, and Romania will "rapidly" provide Ukraine with additional Patriot batteries, while the Netherlands will provide components to operate one other Patriot battery.
• Italy will also provide an additional SAMP-T air defense system.
• In the coming months, Canada, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom will also contribute to the additional provision of  "dozens" of tactical air defense systems to Ukraine, including NASAMS, HAWKs, IRIS T-SLM, IRIS T-SLS, and Gepard systems, according to the agreement.

(Euromaidan Press) Russia loses 90% of Kharkiv Offensive force, Ukrainian commander reports

• Russian forces have lost more than 90% of the 10,350 troops initially committed to the Kharkiv offensive two months ago, according to Colonel Victor Solimchuk, Deputy Commander of Ukraine’s Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group.
• The Russian offensive, which began on 10 May, targeted two key directions: the village of Lyptsi, potentially opening the way to Kharkiv city, and the town of Vovchansk, providing access to Kupiansk. So far, Russia failed to achieve any objectives.
• Solimchuk detailed Russian losses in Kharkiv Oblast, reporting 2,939 killed, 6,509 wounded, and 45 captured.
• Despite these significant losses, Solimchuk warned that Russia retains offensive potential. He cautioned that the Russians are regrouping, preparing assault teams in the rear, and replenishing their forces and logistics.

Russia

(The Kyiv Independent) Russia labels Moscow Times an 'undesirable organization'

• Russia's Prosecutor General's Office ruled on July 10 to declare the independent Russian media outlet the Moscow Times an "undesirable organization," which establishes criminal penalties for anyone who works with or has links to the outlet.
• The prosecutor's office justified their decision by claiming that the work of the Moscow Times is "is aimed at discrediting the decisions of Russia's leadership in both foreign and domestic policy."
• The Moscow Times said that beyond banning its work in Russia, the decision "puts staff members at risk of jail time, and criminalizes engagement with the outlet, including sharing its content online." The Moscow Times relocated its headquarters to Amsterdam in 2022 in the aftermath of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and related crackdown on media in Russia.

Russia-Cina-NATO:

(Bloomberg) NATO Set to Call Out China Over Support for Russia’s War Machine

• NATO will describe China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to the latest draft of a communique set to be released at the end of a three-day alliance summit and seen by Bloomberg News. The draft details China’s supply of dual-use materials such as weapons components, equipment and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia’s defense sector.
• [...] The draft document says that China poses “systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security,” including through cyber activities and disinformation as well as its development of counter-space capabilities. [...] The wording of the draft could change before the final version is released Thursday.
• US officials have said China is holding off directly providing weapons and artillery, [...] Still, European capitals were alarmed by reports this month that Chinese and Russian companies are developing an attack drone similar to an Iranian model deployed in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Europa

UK-Rwanda:

(New York Times) Rwanda Says It Doesn’t Have to Repay U.K. for Scrapped Migration Plan

• Rwanda does not have to repay the hundreds of millions of pounds it received from Britain as part of a contentious policy aimed at sending migrants on a one-way flight to the Central African nation, two senior Rwandan government officials say. Rwanda’s president had previously suggested that such money could be returned. One of the Rwandan officials, Alain Mukuralinda, the government’s deputy spokesman, said on Wednesday that the agreement did not include a reimbursement clause.
• As part of the deal, Britain was set to give Rwanda as much as about half a billion pounds in development funding in exchange for taking in the migrants. Britain’s independent public spending watchdog said in early March that the country had already paid Rwanda £220 million, about $280 million, even though no asylum seekers had been deported to the African nation.
• Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, scrapped the plan after taking over as the country’s leader last week. 
• The migration partnership was set to be a significant boost for Rwanda, a poor nation whose economy is largely dependent on agriculture. Rwanda’s annual economic output is about $14 billion, according to World Bank figures, so half a billion pounds would be a sizable injection into its economy.
• Britain’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda started taking shape in 2021 under Boris Johnson, then the prime minister, who spoke of an intention to deport asylum seekers to third countries for processing. The idea immediately faced pushback from rights groups, United Nations officials and British courts, who all said that Rwanda was neither safe nor adequately ready to process asylum seekers’ claims.

Germania:

(Reuters) Germany's spurned AfD creates third far-right EU parliament group

• The Alternative for Germany (AFD) joined forces with other far-right parties to form a third far-right party alliance in the European Parliament on Wednesday, a group member said.
• The Europe of Sovereign Nations group will take its place alongside the Patriots for Europe group led by France's National Rally and the Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. [...]
• Besides the AfD, the Sovereign Nations group will include small parties from Bulgaria, France, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Czechia and Hungary. With 28 legislators, it will be far smaller than the rival Patriots group, with 84.
• To form a new political grouping in the 720-member parliament, 23 MEPs are needed who represent at least a quarter of EU member states. Groups enjoy some legislative and financial privileges.
• With 14 MEPs, the AfD will be by far the largest of the Sovereign Nations' nine parties, none of which contribute more than three each.
• The fragmentation of the European Parliament's increasingly crowded far-right flank reflects the deep misgivings Europe's nationalist parties have about their ideological bedfellows in neighbouring countries, making it difficult to form cross-border alliances.
• "At our request the group rejected the S.O.S. Romania party's application to join," Laszlo Torozckai, the member from Hungary's Our Homeland party, said in a post on social media announcing the group's formation, highlighting those divisions.

Politica internazionale

Nord America

USA:

(Bloomberg) Pelosi Says Biden, Who Insists He’ll Run, Must Make Decision

• Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to support President Joe Biden’s intention to seek reelection, saying instead that it remains his decision to make — the latest signal of unease among Democrats over the incumbent’s age and ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November.
• Biden reiterated his intention to remain in the race again hours after Pelosi’s comments, telling labor leaders gathered in Washington he was “staying” atop the ticket.
• The outcry, though, extended to one of the party’s biggest celebrity supporters and donors, George Clooney, who called for a new nominee Wednesday just a few weeks after he co-hosted a fundraiser with Biden.
• Pelosi urged lawmakers not to publicly air their concerns about the president until the NATO summit being held in Washington concludes. Biden is expected to hold a high-stakes news conference Thursday afternoon, while foreign allies attending the event are closely watching the US president.