Good morning. We’re covering Israel’s preparations for a Gaza City offensive and Xi Jinping’s rare visit to Tibet. Plus, Africa’s push for a new world map.
Israel prepared an assault on Gaza CityIsraeli officials said yesterday that the military was moving forward with plans to take over Gaza City. Even after nearly two years of war, the city and its surrounding neighborhoods remain a stronghold for Hamas, an official said. An Israeli military official said that troops had reached the city’s outskirts and that tents were being moved into southern Gaza for people who would be displaced once the operation begins. The plan called for troops to encircle the city, allow the population to move south through checkpoints to catch militants, then move in with force. About 60,000 reservists would be called to backfill troops sent to Gaza City, and 20,000 would have their orders extended. The buildup began as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed a cease-fire proposal, agreed upon by Hamas, that would ensure the release of some hostages. In Israel, the families of hostages are worried that Hamas would kill them in response to the offensive, while hard-right politicians threatened to quit the government if Netanyahu were to accept the cease-fire deal. In Gaza City, thousands considered moving to the central or southern parts of the territory. But many of the city’s inhabitants have already relocated repeatedly — some said they won’t do so again. Related: Israel began direct talks with Syria after deadly clashes between the countries, and President Trump described Netanyahu, and himself, as war heroes.
Russia is pushing hard to grab Ukrainian landAs Trump presses Ukraine and Russia to make peace, President Vladimir Putin of Russia is pushing to capture as much land as possible. The tactic could force Ukraine to enter negotiations from a position of weakness, a Ukrainian commander said. The Russians are sending in small groups of soldiers on foot, who are harder to detect. They effectively sneak past the Ukrainian troops, regroup and attack, then repeat this cycle as they inch forward, my colleagues Kim Barker and Finbarr O’Reilly reported from near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, where fighting remains intense. Diplomacy: Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said yesterday that Moscow would insist on being a part of any future security guarantees for Ukraine, a condition that European and Ukrainian officials see as absurd. It was the clearest sign yet that enormous gaps remain in the negotiations over a possible end to Russia’s invasion.
My colleague Maggie Haberman explains how Trump has engaged with Russia and Ukraine in the video above.
Xi made a rare visit to TibetXi Jinping, China’s leader, made a tightly choreographed trip to Lhasa yesterday, his first since 2021 to the capital of Tibet. The visit reflected the Chinese leadership’s concern with redoubling control ahead of a potential succession fight after the eventual death of the Dalai Lama, who is 90. In a speech, Xi called for stronger regulation of “religious affairs” and to “guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society.” More China news:
Many of us learned world geography at school with the Mercator map. But the centuries-old map, which was created by a German cartographer, distorts reality. It makes Europe and Africa appear to be the same size, even though Africa is actually three times as big. “A lot of people are asking, What are we actually looking at here?” my colleague Saikou Jammeh in Dakar, Senegal, said. “Why are we still teaching children this 16th-century map that shows Europe as primary and minimizes global south countries?” Saikou covered a push by African leaders to replace the Mercator map with a more accurate alternative, called the Equal Earth projection. Read more. Lives lived: Rodrigo Moya, a photojournalist who captured farmworkers, guerrillas and celebrities in Mexico and across Latin America, died at 91.
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